Erase & Rewind, Version 3
by Alisha Ashton
Summary: Picks up where Version 1 of my story series, Erase & Rewind, left off. Read that one first! A Boomtown / Hitcher crossover in which D.A. David McNorris/Neal McDonough meets BadGirl and smut ensues ; NC17 SMUT WARNING! Get ready Neal fans! haha
1. City of Fallen Angels

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**_ERASE and REWIND, VERSION 3 (HITCHER/BOOMTOWN)_****_  
_****_Written by: _**badgirl2bad4u

**_Characters/Pairings: _**DA David McNorris and...well what d'ya know...ME! ;) haha. Flashbacks to Lt. Esteridge and...I'll be damned, ME AGAIN! LOL  
**_Description: _**A fan fiction for Neal McDonough's character, Lt. Esteridge, in The Hitcher, and DA David McNorris in Boomtown, in which he meets BadGirl and smut ensues. Will continue with several "erase and rewinds" of the same story exploring all avenues it could have taken.

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_****_Rated:_** **NC-17**

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This story picks up where **VERSION 1** left off. If you haven't read that one, do so **before you read this**.

For those of you who have already read the original, here is a brief refresher and then we'll get this show on the road ;)

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**PREVIOUSLY: ****  
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_He licked his lips, part of him a little sadder than it had a right to be. In fact he knew he shouldn't even ask the question he was about to, but he wanted to hear the answer. "Am I ever going to see you again?" He asked quietly, and she kissed his palm the way he had hers earlier, holding his heavy hand against her chest and smiling at him mischievously._

_"Well maybe not in the flesh, but if you can make a copy of this real quick..." She held up a video tape and his jaw dropped open. "You can see me any time you want."_

_"You didn't..." He began and she laughed._

_"I most certainly did." She flipped it over to reveal the words 'BadGirl's Interrogation' where she'd written them in black ink on the label. "I just couldn't resist..."_

_He sat up and tried to snatch it away from her, both of them laughing when the radio lying in the heap of his pants on the floor began squawking._

_BadGirl rolled her eyes and watched him hesitantly climb off the table to answer it, getting to her feet and dressing while he talked to whoever was on the other end about some renegade young couple on a killing spree._

_There was a look in his eyes when he finished that told her everything she needed to know. He'd already pulled on his pants and boots hurriedly and when he stepped over in front of her she stood on her toes, kissing him deeply and staring up into those crystal blue waters that she'd never forget._

_"Your loss, stallion. If I'm ever through here again I'll give you a copy..." She shook the tape and smiled. "As well as an encore."_

_"Where will you go?" He asked, watching her walk to the door as he pulled on his shirt and jacket._

_"Eh, I guess I'll go see if the car's done." She said softly as she helped button his shirt. "If so I'll probably hit the road and keep driving until I realize I better turn around and come right back here before you forget about me." She teased, smiling as he caressed her cheek in his hand._

_"Never." He said softly, leaning down and kissing her lips sweetly. "I gotta get going, lock up if no one's here when you leave? Oh, and before I forget, fix whatever the hell you did to the lights downstairs." He said with a wink and she laughed._

_"Not a problem. You be careful out there..." She said with a terrible ache in her chest for some reason._

_She watched him wave over his shoulder and head out the door into the sunrise, sighing to herself as she was forced to get back to her real life._

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ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 1

**"CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS"**

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**PRESENTLY:**

_Los Angeles._

BadGirl sighed and looked out at the city in the distance; taking a swig from the oversized bottle of whiskey she'd bought in an attempt to distract her mind.

It wasn't helping.

A couple of days had passed since she'd left New Mexico, since she'd spent the night with Esteridge, since she'd touched something _real_…

Yet the man still clouded her mind and tormented her dreams, he was all she could think about, all she could _dream_ about. It seemed her heart had already decided for her – but she wasn't giving in that easily.

She was damaged goods – she knew that. Not the type of girl seeking a husband, kids, a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence…

But she had gotten a small taste of something that night which she hadn't expected.

Just like all other emotions she'd tried to drown it with booze, and when that didn't seem to do the trick she tried putting more distance between her and what was making her feel.

And so here she sat…on the hood of her Mustang staring out at the city in the sunset under its cloud of smog…suffering through the realization that everything she was looking for was just over a thousand miles behind her.

She shook her head and took a drag of her cigarette, smiling slightly as she admitted defeat. _There were worse things_, she supposed. The image of the smile that would be on his face when she showed up made her temperature rise.

She really wished she had a way to play that blessed tape in that moment, but alas, barely any place she'd stayed since the creation of the tape still had a VCR around. Everything was on DVD nowadays (except in the middle of East Bumfuck, New Mexico apparently) and she made a mental note to buy the very next one she came across.

Tilting her head to the side she gauged her current state of inebriation – _could still pass for legal_…

She hopped off the hood of her car and stretched, putting her cigarette out on the bottom of her boot and finishing off the whiskey before tossing the bottle in a trashcan at the edge of the pull-off. It was settled. First thing in the morning she'd get to driving and go score herself a cowboy.

After days of denial she was in no shape to make the trip just yet, she needed sleep…and alright, just a few more drinks first.

The drive into the city was more relaxing than it had a right to be, like cruising back into Philadelphia she saw all the familiar sights. The dealers and tricks working their corners, the gang members huddled 

together looking for a reason to start a problem, the graffiti and orange glow the city lights were casting into the night sky…

There were of course, subtle differences.

The clothing, the lack of accent in the voices calling out to her about her car, the sidewalks and roads new – not decaying, the buildings all occupied – no sign of entire blocks of abandoned or condemned townhouses. She was entering L.A. in a bad section of the city, but it was just right for a BadGirl.

A sleazy motel came into view and she pulled in to its parking lot, sighing contentedly at the sight of hardened types swarming the area.

_Home_.

She climbed out and opened the hood of her car, casting a purposeful look at the largest male she could find as she hooked her battery cable directly into the frame of the Mustang. With practiced ease she closed the hood without getting electrocuted, and the thug leaning against the far wall inclined his head in understanding.

He'd tell the others they definitely did _**not**_ want to fuck with her ride.

The office was every bit as nasty as she'd figured it would be and she paid for her room for a good 12 hours, estimating by the time she got back she'd be able to crash for at least 5 before her time was up.

She was here, after all. Why not go see the sights?

_**Hours**_ flew by in the blink of a thoroughly intoxicated eye as she wandered through the surrounding neighborhoods on foot. She hit up a few of the local bars, finding that people here responded to her as they did back in Philly. When a 5'2 little blonde girl wanders into the wrong part of town…alone…in the middle of the night…it's best not to find out why she feels so safe doing it.

She tried in vain to focus on the clock on the wall, deciding after several minutes of failed vision that it was time to get back to her room and pass out.

The walk back seemed longer, and she smiled knowing it was because she'd taken a totally different route the first time. This direction led through industrial parks instead of residential areas and storefronts.

She stopped in the middle of the road, struggling to light her cigarette in the haze of drunkenness.

It was then that she heard someone arguing in the distance.

_None of her business_…

Head down, eyes on the road ahead of her she got moving again.

_No trouble…not tonight_…

The voices were getting closer, more enraged. A building alarm was going off now.

It was difficult to maintain total inebriation with adrenaline coursing through your veins. Her vision was clearing slowly as her body responded to its perceived threat.

_Fight or flight_…

She looked up – she shouldn't have – she _**knew**_ she shouldn't have…

Her whole world slowed.

_The man in the suit down the alley to her side aimed and pulled the trigger and her heart thundered in her ears as the lifeless form of his victim fell to the ground in a heap._

_He looked at __**her**__._

_She looked at __**him**__._

_The gun came up, aiming at her head_…

But a police siren was approaching fast now...

_She heard a voice screaming "Get in! Get it!" to the man. _

_He glared at her, turning and rushing to the car that was waiting for him, climbing in as it instantly sped away from the scene of the crime. _

BadGirl stood in wide eyed shock for a few seconds before the word, "Fuck!" escaped her and she was hauling ass back toward the Motel.


	2. Why We Call It Boomtown

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Rated: NC-17

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_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 2_

**_"...AND THIS IS WHY WE CALL IT BOOMTOWN..."_**

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Just shy of dawn she was rushing out the door of her room, her heavy combat boots clunking noisily down the metal stairs to the parking lot. Bags in hand, a cigarette pressed between her lips she cursed and fumbled for her keys. Her hair was pulled up in a tight, high ponytail – dark, oversized shades shielding her sensitive eyes.

Her voice, muffled by the cigarette, was soothing in her not yet hung-over, still slightly drunk and aggravated state as she popped the hood with her hands wrapped in cloth, reattaching the battery cables to their proper location.

She knew she was in trouble.

Again.

It was starting to get old.

"_Fuck this, can't go __**anywhere**__ without a freaking problem. Didn't I tell you, Esteridge? I told you 'I'm just a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time type of girl.' I don't know what the hell I was thinking – I should have just tied him to the damned interrogation room table and been done with it. At least I didn't see anything other than that magnificent little apple ass while I was in New Mexico. __**Fuck**__ Cali. Seen enough thank you very much. I am soooo the fuck outta here_…"

She tossed her bags in the hatch and slammed it closed, taking a breath to calm her nerves and imagining his warm arms around her, him kissing her forehead…

It was a desperate attempt to ease her seldom _ever_ felt fear.

But this was bad.

This was **seriously** bad.

That gun hadn't been some god damned .22 and the shooter sure as shit hadn't been a street rat. Whatever she'd just seen was pro level…

And you don't just witness pro level dirt without it coming back to haunt you.

_Someone would want to keep her quiet…and they'd have plenty of money to pay for it… _

As if answering her thoughts she heard the car turning the corner, and once again her world stilled as her vision tunneled in.

_She could see the window going down; see the barrel of the gun emerging_…

In an instant she was scampering back toward the Motel as the shooting began.

"_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_…" She was screeching to herself as she tried to run while staying as close to the ground as possible.

_No stopping to reload…no pausing between shots…__**fully**__ automatic… an unrelenting supply of bullets…_

The gun wasn't cheap, and judging by the spray of bullets she was ducking it wasn't something you were picking up in a local gun shop. The second she reached the building she flattened herself against the side of the Motel and crawled a safe distance behind it. Bullets continued to whiz by as she slid to the ground covering her ears and screaming at the top of her lungs, the sound was all but drowned out by the gunfire. Brick shards were raining down on her as the building took the assault that was intended for her…

And just as quickly as the world had turned to chaos the tires were squealing on asphalt as the vehicle took off.

Her heart was thundering in her ears as she peeked around the corner to see if they were really gone…

_No sign of them…_

She gritted her teeth and raced back to her car.

"_I know! I'll just go to Cali, check out L.A. It'll be __**fun**__!"_ She muttered to herself bitterly as she pressed against the side of the Mustang, still unsure if their disappearance was a trap.

Slowly she rose up enough to look out at the street through the windows…or at least, where there **used** to be windows…to see if the coast was clear.

_Still nothing_…

"I swear to god, I am going back there and I am **never** getting out of bed with that man again." She said through a clenched jaw and was just about to race around to the driver's side when she heard… _something_…

Her brows furrowed as she identified the sound.

_Fluid splashing on concrete_…

Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she spotted the bullet holes that had pierced her car through and through, rendering her motor completely useless.

"Oh baby! What did they _**do**_ to you?"She whimpered as she hugged her car.

She had been holding onto it for dear life with her eyes closed, but the sound of police approaching en masse was enough to send them wide open again.

"Son of a _**bitch**_!" She growled as she stood upright in time to see five cop cars sliding to a halt in the middle of the road.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" One of them called as he climbed out and she rolled her eyes.

"They killed my fucking car! Go **get** them!" She hissed angrily.

"What did the vehicle look like?" Another officer shouted and she ran through it in her mind, answering without question.

"Black 2007 Lincoln Towncar, chrome trim, tinted out windows. Alloy rims, European conversion kit on the headlights and taillights…the ass end is on after-market shackles to raise it up, brakes were grinding like the rotors are rusted to shit – they'll be all over the road…"

The cops were staring at her like she'd just sprouted a second head.

"WHAT? GO GET THE BASTARDS THAT WRECKED MY CAR!" She screamed and watched in frustration as officers returned to three of the vehicles and sped away.

The ones who stayed behind were two uniforms, two detectives, and she growled at her bad luck.

One of the plain-clothes approached her and she rolled her eyes as she turned away, running a hand over her face roughly and staring at the bullet-riddled body of her Mustang.

"It's okay, baby…we'll fix you up again…" She said in a comforting tone with a protruding bottom lip as she traced her fingers over the wounds.

The officers were casting one another looks of disbelief.

"Ma'am, was anyone injured?" The detective behind her asked, and the way she spun to look at him over her shoulder with an eyebrow arched angrily had him instantly adding, "Aside from your Mustang?"

She studied him for a second. He looked like an older, more weather-beaten version of Mark Wahlberg.

"How the _fuck_ should I know?" She snapped, looking around the parking lot. "What am I? A freaking mind reader? I don't **see** anybody, do **you**? But I'd suggest checking the first three rooms of each building. That was a military assault rifle or something, armor piercers, heavy cal, we're talking BMC shit."

"BMC?" The young Italian officer asked as he approached, putting his gun back in his holster and she glared at him.

"_Yeah_, as in **B**ig **M**oney **C**lub. Your local street thugs ain't buying that, I can guarantee it." She muttered under her breath something about _just her luck to wind up surrounded by po-pos_ and the Wahlberg lookalike smiled.

"Officer Turcotte? Hechler? You two go knock on doors and make sure everyone is alright." He said, not taking his eyes off of her and she grumbled more to herself about _not really being in the mood for 'quality time'. _

The officers raced off, or rather, the young Italian – Turcotte raced…

The other one sort of chugged along like a freight train.

"Alright, I'm gonna need your statement since – as you pointed out – I don't **see** anyone else out here." He said and she bit her bottom lip.

_Crap. _

_Way to point out a major flaw in the 'random gang related drive-by' theory_. She chided herself.

"I didn't see _shit_, okay?" BadGirl snapped at him. "Only the car and I gave you that. I gotta get going so if you'll excuse me I'll just be…" She tried to sidestep him but the black detective, now wearing an amused smirk, stepped in front of her.

"No rush, young lady. We just need a minute of your time." He said and she craned her neck to glare up at him.

"This is Detective Smith, but we just call him Fearless." The Wahlberg twin said with a grin and she gave the 6'4 wall that had blocked her path a snotty smile as if impressed by the nickname.

"And I'm Detective Stevens. Now what's your name?" He asked and she arched a brow as she looked at him over her shoulder, still not backing down from this 'Fearless' character.

"Mary." She said dryly. "Mary Smith."

Stevens rolled his eyes.

"Any **ID** with you, _Ms. Smith_?" He asked incredulously.

She sucked her teeth and shrugged. "Damn. Wouldn't you know? I _just_ lost it yesterday." BadGirl said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Address?" Fearless asked.

"I'm _**between**_ addresses." She said, pretending to be more interested in her nails than them.

The detectives shared a frustrated look.

"**Last** address." Stevens tried.

"Room 106 of the…" She tilted her head back to read the sign. "Sunshine Motel."

The officers were returning now, the heavyset one huffing and puffing and glaring at Stevens for making him run like a dog.

"No injuries, just a lot of scared people." Turcotte reported and Stevens nodded.

"Hechler, it seems we've got ourselves a case of identity amnesia. Can you run the plates on this car and see if we can jog her memory?" Fearless said, giving the officer a meaningful look and he nodded, walking to his car with a hand pressed to his aching side. "Turcotte, will you keep this poor, afflicted young woman company for a second…and make sure she doesn't wander away in her confused state?" He asked, and the officer nodded in understanding as the detectives walked out of earshot.

"What's up?" Stevens asked.

"Remember the call that came in about an hour ago for a homicide at Guarino's warehouse?" Fearless asked and waited for realization to pass over his partner's face.

"That's only like a twenty five minute drive from here…" He thought aloud.

"Or almost an hour away on foot…and **nobody else** was out here when they opened fire…" He looked over Stevens' shoulder at the blonde who was staring daggers at him. "This girl…"

Stevens' eyes widened. "I'll call him." He said, pulling his cell phone free and dialing the number quickly. "This is Detective Stevens, I need to speak with McNorris…uh huh…tell him it's urgent."


	3. Like White On Rice

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Rated: NC-17

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ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 3

"LIKE WHITE ON RICE"

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"Put him through…." District Attorney McNorris said as he exited the elevator and waited while the call was transferred to him. "Stevens, what do you have?"

"Well, I think we might have a witness in the Guarino shooting this morning…" Stevens began and McNorris beamed.

"That's excellent news! Wait, what do you mean you 'think'?" He said; his brows furrowing as he made his way down the hall with the phone pressed to his ear.

"She's…not cooperating." He said and McNorris held the phone away from his ear for a second, twisting his neck in frustration.

Guarino witnesses NEVER cooperated.

"Who is she?" He asked.

"We don't know. All we know is she is down at the Sunshine Motel less than an hour after the hit went down and had a drive-by attempt made on her with an assault rifle out the window of a tinted out Towncar. Fits his MO." Stevens said, pinching the bridge of his nose and watching the blonde argue with Turcotte in the distance.

Apparently he'd asked if her car was a Pinto or something and it hadn't gone over well.

"Are we sure she was the mark?" McNorris asked, signing for a package and nodding his thanks to the delivery driver who had somehow tracked him down.

"Nobody else was around for at least a block, we're sure it was meant for her." Stevens answered and Fearless nodded his agreement with the statement, it was an unnecessary reassurance but Stevens would take it.

"Great, great. Just keep her there until I can…." McNorris looked down at his watch; he still had to file the search warrant for Guarino's residence and vehicle looking for a murder weapon or any evidence linking him to the crime. "_Shit_, I can't get down there…alright, just bring her in to the station…tell her you need to get her statement down there."

"Well…"

"Well _what_?" McNorris asked in frustration.

"Well that's going to be difficult since she's not _giving_ us a statement…hell we can't even get a _name_ out of her." Stevens sighed.

McNorris glared up at the ceiling and prayed for strength. "Now you _listen_ to _me_, we've been after this son of a bitch for the last ten years and have **never** been able to get a charge to stick. **FIND** something. Find out who she is and I don't give a god damn if you have to bring her in for a _jaywalking ticket_, you bring her to the station and keep her there." He managed through clenched teeth before snapping his phone shut, his eyes practically glowing with anger as he walked faster to meet with the Judge.

* * *

"Alisha XXXXXX. Well, well…quite the little instigator, aren't we?" Hechler began as he approached, reading through a few reports he'd printed out. "Just out here looking for trouble, huh?"

BadGirl glared at him and resisted the urge to belt him one. "I do **not** go looking for trouble. Trouble goes looking for **me**."

"Sure, sure…whatever you say. Oh, lookie here – known alias: _BadGirl_. Appropriate – what did you do, go and piss off the wrong neighborhood gang?" He asked, intentionally goading her for a reaction.

"Hey, _Tons-of-Fun_ – do me a favor and go choke on a pastry, would ya?" She snapped back and he held up his hands.

"Woo, somebody's _touchy_. She looks like she's a bit on edge, don't you think, Turcotte?" Hechler asked and Turcotte arched a brow, knowing where he was going with this.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact she does look like she might be on something…" He said and her mouth fell open.

"It's called _alcohol_, asshole. Last time I checked it wasn't a crime to be _**shot at**_ while under the influence." She growled.

"Gonna have to search the vehicle…or what's left of it, anyway…" Hechler said, making an 'ooohh' face as he eyed her damaged car.

"Eat me, pig." BadGirl said in a low, dangerous tone.

"Sorry, hon. You're not my type." He said over his shoulder as he leaned into the shattered window of her car.

BadGirl laughed cruelly. "Yeah, but if I put some powdered sugar and sprinkles on my ass I bet you'd be on me like white on rice." She fired back and he eyed her in disbelief as Turcotte, Stevens and Fearless struggled not to laugh.

He decided not to respond to that, instead pulling one of her bags free and dropping it on the hood of her car with purposeful carelessness, watching her wince at the contact with (what used to be) the car's flawless paint job.

"Let's see…CDs…you listen to this crap?" He asked as he tossed them on the hood. "And damn, how much do you smoke?" He said as he pulled out three cartons of Marlboros. "Hmm…aspirin…no. Photos…no…that's not what we need… Oh, oh – wait…what do we have _here_?" He said like a kid getting exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

BadGirl's brow furrowed wondering what in the bag he was going to use against her.

"Property of the New Mexico State Police Department." He announced and her jaw dropped, knowing which label he was reading. "Oh and it says right here, '_BadGirl's Interrogation'_. Is this what I think it is?" He asked as he held up the video tape and she grinned.

"I _**severely**_ doubt it." She said in amusement.

"It looks like stolen property to me. Detectives?" Hechler said and turned to them, holding up the tape like a prize.

"Alisha XXXXXX, you are under arrest for possession of stolen property." Stevens said as he approached. He felt bad for it, but tried to ease his guilt telling himself that McNorris would never let the charges stick.

"Oh you have **GOT** to be fucking kidding me!" She screamed as Fearless began cuffing her behind her back.

"You have the right to remain silent..." Stevens continued.

"Yeah, but I don't have the ability." She snapped back at him.

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning..."

"Go _FUCK_ an attorney, okay? Spineless leaches are about as useless as tits on a porcupine. Can't trust'em as far as you can throw'em...don't even get me started... _Pfft, like I need some scumbag lawyer_...and ANOTHER thing..." She was ranting as they walked her to the patrol car.

"Oh man, you HAVE to let me be there when she meets McNorris!" Hechler said with a huge grin, he couldn't wait to hear what she'd have to say to the 'fair-haired boy' he disliked so much.

Stevens arched a brow at Hechler as he continued, looking back at her with his guilt plain in his face. "If you can not afford an attorney one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights I have read to you?" He asked with a sigh as she glared at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I understand _perfectly well_ that you think keeping me around for this dumb shit is gonna get a statement outta me - but it ain't gonna work. The second we get to the station you can contact Lt. Esteridge of the New Mexico State Police…" She motioned with her head several times to his notepad telling him to write that down, not continuing until he had. "And verify that I have permission to have the tape. And when you do? I'll be out the door and halfway to the East coast before you can find another excuse to bring me in." She said, her eyes glowing with rage at this point.

"See? She's _still_ touchy." Hechler said with an amused smirk.

BadGirl's head came around fast enough to send her ponytail straight out behind her for a fraction of a second.

"While we're bringing people in for technicalities, how about you arrest _Tubby_ over there," she inclined her head toward Hechler, "for his malicious and _repeated_ assaults on Dunkin Donuts?" She barked at Stevens.

"Hey!" Hechler said, an indignant look on his face as she managed to get under his skin finally. "I am **not** 'tubby', I'm big boned."

The others tried not to laugh at him as she was loaded into the back of the police car but it was tough.

Stevens closed the door behind her; effectively muffling the tirade she had just launched into and dialed the D.A.'s office again, silently thankful that he wouldn't have to ride with her in the back of his own vehicle.

"It's Stevens again…put me through." He waited for the usual silence before McNorris' greeting. "We got her, bringing her in to the station now." Stevens said.

At the other end of the city McNorris grinned against the phone as he climbed into his car. "That is the best news I've heard all day. You are a gentleman and a scholar, Stevens. When we nail this guy it'll be thanks to you - great work." He said, knowing that the detective was likely brooding over bending the rules. "I'll meet you down there after I serve this search warrant _personally_. I want Guarino to know I'm on this one."

Stevens nodded and smiled. "Right, well you have fun with that. I gotta warn you though, this girl? She seems to have this deep-rooted hatred of cops _and_ attorneys. We got her name." He motioned for Hechler to hand over the reports. "She's Alisha XXXXXX from Philadelphia, PA. And man, I have to tell you she's got a pretty extensive record."

McNorris' brow furrowed – that wouldn't bode well for her credibility as a witness. "Convictions?" He asked and braced himself.

"Surprisingly? _**None**_…seems she's another one that charges just won't stick to. She's a fighter apparently…every one of these things involves an altercation with a man…or men…who wound up injured by her but refused to press charges." Stevens said as his eyes skimmed the reports.

"Kinky." McNorris said deadpanned. "Alright, well I'll have to work around it. At least she's never done time or been found guilty. Any pleas of 'no contest' or anything like that?"

"Nope. Every case is the same. Fight broke out, she walked away, they didn't…and they wouldn't make a statement about what had happened." Stevens said and Fearless was eyeing him up, motioning that he wanted to give it a read.

"Interesting..." McNorris said, dropping into silence for a moment as he ran all the possible reasons for it through his head. "I'll have to find out why that is, maybe I can use it. So you said she hates attorneys – I gather she's not going to lawyer up?" He asked.

"I doubt it, says she doesn't need some 'scumbag lawyer'." Stevens said with a smile.

"Hmm. Do me a favor then, when she gets her one phone call, which she's going to start asking for the **second** you get to the station, have someone listen in…and if you can, record it." McNorris waited, and when Stevens said nothing he sighed. "Look - it won't be admissible in court; I just want to know if we're chasing our tails. If she doesn't trust lawyers and cops she's going to call someone she _does_ trust…and if she knows something that'll be our chance to find out."

Stevens pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. _Why couldn't things ever seem to get done without towing the line?_

"Got it." He said finally and McNorris let out a sigh of relief.

"Great, I'll be there shortly." He said and closed his phone, tossing it to the passenger seat and driving away from the courthouse quickly.


	4. Estoy En TREMENDO Problema

**Rated: NC-17**

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**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 4_**

**_"Estoy En TREMENDO Problema"_**

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The ride to the station with a restrained BadGirl in the backseat was…

_Different_.

By the time they pulled into the parking lot Turcotte had a splitting headache and Hechler was developing a complex about his weight.

Fearless pointed at them and laughed his ass off seeing their exhausted expressions as they dragged themselves out of the car and slammed their doors. "Oh shit! And that was only ten minutes!" He said and they glared over at him.

"That angry little cop-hating lesbian has more lung power than ought to be allowed." Hechler said as he rubbed his temples.

Stevens opened the backdoor to the car and immediately winced as the volume of her screaming was unleashed on his eardrums.

"…is fucking _**bullshit!**_ I want my god damned phone call and I want it **right** now! I don't know what the **hell** I was thinking coming to this screwed up smog infested city! You must be the **dumbest** bunch of sons of…"

He closed the door again and sighed.

"Get her in and get her processed, let us know when you're done and _don't_ let her make that call until we're ready." Stevens said and Turcotte smiled.

"D.A. up to his shit again?" He asked and Stevens gave an un-amused smirk and nod.

Within two minutes of entering the station there wasn't a person in the building who was unaware of where she was from or how bogus she felt the charges were that she was being brought in for. They filed her paperwork in record time, other officers in the precinct offering to help the process along in order to get her into a room somewhere out of earshot.

Once Turcotte got the green light from Fearless that they were ready he led her to a phone and waited, seemingly out of earshot, for her to dial. Stevens was listening in from a room down the hall and had been hesitant to record the conversation, despite McNorris' request.

She'd only just started to speak and he was already regretting it, rushing to get the unit to record as fast as he could.

_"Hector, soy yo BadGirl. Ponte Big Dog en el telephono." _She said, and smiled at the confusion on Turcotte's face as he looked at her over his shoulder.

_Ah, didn't see that one coming did you? Nosy ass 5-0. _She thought bitterly as she glared back at him.

BadGirl leaned against the wall and waited as Hector went to find Big Dog, after a few seconds she heard the phone being passed over to her dearest friend.

"_Joven! ¿Cómo estás_? _Te extraño __**mucho**__, Loca._" He said as he pressed the phone to his ear and she sighed, a smile coming to her face despite her current predicament now that she was listening to the familiar bass of his voice.

_"Hola, papi! __¿Cómo te ha ido_?" She asked and laughed as he told her that he was just downstairs kicking ass in Tekken on the PlayStation 3.

Picturing it made her miss Philly and her boys _terribly_. They would be huddled around the big screen, hooting and hollering, drinking and smoking, having fun and here she was, at the other end of the country in a god damned police station.

"_Si…da bien…" _BadGirl answered distractedly at the appropriate points as he continued talking. She picked at the paint on the wall, her eyes saddening as she lowered her tone, becoming serious and finally working up the courage to interupt him. "_Papi__...estoy en __**problema**__ otra - __**vez**__."_

Down the hall Stevens was looking over at an equally confused Fearless, both of them shrugging as they held the headphones to their ears.

BadGirl was shifting her weight from foot to foot like a child having to tell on herself. _"Estoy en los Angeles pres__ó__ por estupidez."_ She said with a scrunched up face and the man on the other end of the phone sighed. He asked her a quick question and she shook her head as she answered. _"No, ello quiere que yo hablé…Si no hablo, yo estare aqui pres__ó__."_

She took a deep breath and dropped her voice to barely more than a whisper. _"Escúchamé…yo, vi arqo que yo no supuesto aver. Estoy en __**tremendo**__ problema...Ello esta vestido en ropa mafiosa...Tiene pistola grande i poderosa…"_

"Should we get a translator?" Fearless asked and Stevens shook his head.

"Need to make sure we can trust whoever does it…I sure as shit don't speak Spanish but I got a feeling we're in business. We'll wait for McNorris to get here." He said and continued to listen.

The man on the phone was rambling quickly, calling out to several others in the background before getting back on the line with Alisha.

"_¿__Donde estás?" _He asked; his voice now low and serious.

_"Estoy en los Angeles districto 15._ ¿_Tu viene pa aqui?"_ BadGirl asked hopefully, but she already knew the answer.

"_No te preocupes, Loca. En un ratito, pronto."_ He said and she breathed a sigh of relief.

_"Okay...Gracias mi amor. Espero verte pronto." _She hung up the phone and smiled to herself contentedly before approaching Turcotte. "Ready whenever you are." She said with a grin and he swallowed hard, unsure of himself as he escorted her to the interrogation room.


	5. To Protect and SERVE

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 5**

**"TO PROTECT AND..._SERVE_..."**

* * *

The officers were seated in the room behind the glass from BadGirl, blinds drawn waiting for the D.A. to fight traffic and arrive…

And they'd only been there about five minutes before someone had the _brilliant_ idea of playing the 'stolen' tape.

The instant they pressed play the room began filling up. Other officers were being waived in as they noted by the way she was seated at the edge of the table in the video that this was to be no ordinary 'interrogation'. They switched off the lights and pulled up chairs, cracking up that this was, after all, evidence…

"What took you so long?" She purred and the cops started whistling and laughing, their catcalls reaching a feverish pitch as she curled a finger to whoever was off camera and said breathily, "come here…"

"Oh shit! We've got our Lt. Esteridge!" Turcotte laughed as a wall of a blonde Texan, complete with a ten gallon hat came into the picture and closed the distance between him and BadGirl. He crushed her mouth hungrily as his hands wandered over her shoulders and back, pulling her closer as she wrapped a leg around his hips.

"Call me crazy, Hechler…but that don't look like no shit I've ever seen an 'angry cop-hating lesbian' do before." Fearless joked and gave him a shove to the shoulder.

Hechler couldn't help but laugh and agree.

The Texan was standing with his back to the camera, her hands wandering over his shoulders and back. She was all but blocked from view until his fingers apparently wandered to _just the right_ _place_. In an instant she could be seen over his shoulder, pressing her face against the side of his jaw as she held on to him and moaned.

"Now _THAT_ is how you protect and _serve_." One of the officers piped in from the back of the room and they all started cracking up.

"I am never…._ever_….going to look at an interrogation room the same way again…" A rookie breathed; his eyes wide and unblinking as the others clapped him on his back.

She peeled his shirt and jacket back over his shoulders and he turned to face the camera for the first time as she pushed him back toward the table, kissing down his chest and stomach…

Esteridge let his head roll back and Turcotte's jaw fell open.

"Yo!" He exclaimed and immediately paused the tape, climbing to his feet and pointing at Esteridge's face on the screen. "Tell me that ain't McNorris' freaking twin!" He said and the others waited for him to press play for a few more seconds, watching the Lieutenant open his blue eyes and look down at BadGirl before he paused it again.

"I'll be damned." Stevens said with a laugh and exchanged surprised looks with several of the others. "They could have been separated at birth. _Unreal_…"

Mutters went around the room in agreement before Fearless finally spoke up.

"Alright, what do you want? A cookie or something? Get it rolling!" He said and Turcotte ducked as papers were tossed at him from all directions.

"Yeah! Let's get going here!" Hechler agreed and Turcotte shook his head as he pressed play and sat back down.

All they could see was the back of her head as she knelt in front of the Lieutenant, but judging by his reaction she was doing a _damned_ good job.

"Holy shit…" Someone breathed and several of the others laughed that they were going to have to get the ammonia inhalants ready in case a few of the rookies fainted.

Esteridge had apparently decided he'd had enough torture, and without warning he got his hands free from his shirt and jacket, gripping BadGirl by her shoulders and forcing her back against the glass roughly.

"Oooohhh!!"

"Daayyumm!"

The room erupted in applause as the couple pressed against the glass right in front of the camera; her top was peeled off and thrown behind them. Her tattooed shoulders were splayed as he pushed harder against her, and his hand dipped below the view of the camera, grabbing her by the ass and lifting her up off the ground. She was moaning and whimpering, hanging on and when the words, "_Oh baby...I'm...I'm...I'm gonna...FUUUCCKKKK_..." left her mouth they really did almost lose a few rookies.

The men were applauding and whistling, just getting the celebration underway when the door opened and lights came on.

Turcotte paused the tape and hid the remote behind himself, everyone turning to see how much trouble they were in…

"Gentlemen." District Attorney McNorris said with an amused smirk and everyone sighed in relief.

"McNorris, don't _do_ that shit!" Fearless said and it only earned a bigger smile from him.

"Figures, here comes the black cloud to rain all over the PD's parade." Hechler said with a roll of his eyes and McNorris glared at him. They made no qualms about their distaste for one another.

"Hard at work, I see. Sooo…what's…?" He motioned to the television and Turcotte was the first one to speak up.

"Yo, McNorris - you ever been to New Mexico?" He asked and Hechler punched his arm. "Ow! What? You _can't_ tell me that's not weird." He said defensively and McNorris tilted his head to the side.

"No, I haven't. And what's weird?" He asked, still thoroughly amused by that first flash of a room full of terrified officers thinking they were being busted by their Sergeant.

"Watch this." Turcotte said and McNorris sighed.

"As much as I appreciate the offer to watch porn with you boys in blue, and really...I do…" He said with a sarcastic smile. "We've got other matters to attend to."

But Turcotte wasn't hearing any of it. He pressed play at a perfect time, Esteridge was just taking a moment to watch the pleasure in BadGirl's face as she whimpered and panted…and the shot of his features was crystal clear.

McNorris' brow arched.

"Who the hell is _that_?" He asked as he pointed at the screen.

"Lieutenant Esteridge." All of the officers answered at once and he looked at them incredulously.

"Uh huh…and _why_ is there porn of my doppelganger, who also happens to be a _lieutenant_, being played in _here_?" He asked and Turcotte paused the tape again, grinning over at him.

"See the little blonde in the video?" Turcotte asked and McNorris nodded. Grinning at the others he walked over to the blinds that were covering the one-way glass of the interrogation room. He pulled the cord and McNorris' brow nearly touched his hairline. "Yeah. She's your_ witness_." He said with a laugh.

Sitting on the table was said blonde; sporting a denim miniskirt and black tank-top she was swinging her legs back and forth in boredom facing the mirror. Her knee-high combat boots were clunking against the leg of the table in a steady rhythm as she fixed the tight ponytail of her hair.

McNorris pointed at her. "_THAT_ is my witness?" He asked and Fearless laughed behind him.

"Yeah, and don't go getting any ideas from the video, either." Fearless joked as he approached.

"Not unless we've got a blank tape around here…" One of the other officers called out and McNorris shot them a look of feigned disapproval.

Stevens laughed and walked over to a desk in the corner, getting to work finding a contact number for Esteridge out in New Mexico.

McNorris turned to the officers that were gathered, clasping his hands together as he addressed them in that lawyerly fashion. "**Gentlemen**, if you are not on this case I am going to have to ask you, ever so politely, to _get out_ now…" He began as he opened the door to the hall and a chorus of disappointed groans rippled through the crowd. "I mean it. Hechler, Turcotte, Fearless and Stevens stay – the rest of you get moving."

He waited as they filed out one by one, telling him he was a buzz-kill and pouting like a bunch of kids. "I know, I know…I'm terrible…get going." He said and once the last one was out the door he closed and locked it.

"Alright, how did we do with the phone call?" He asked impatiently, his eyes passing over each of their faces looking for one who could give him the answer.

Fearless took a seat. "Well…we found out that she speaks Spanish fluently." He said as she scratched his throat and McNorris clenched his jaw.

"Please…_**please**_ tell me you recorded it. I don't think I could handle it if you told me you missed it…" He said, his eyes burning now with frustration.

"We got it. Don't know what she's saying and didn't want to ask anyone to interpret but…" Stevens began, and McNorris was so fast to cut in that he didn't wonder why the detective was suddenly staring at his computer screen in shock.

"Good work…excellent work…" He commended them as he pulled his cell phone free and started dialing.

"Bringing in a fed?" Turcotte asked and McNorris shook his head.

"No – I'm not risking any tip offs this time. The only way we're guaranteed a translation without it getting out is if the translator wants Guarino locked up as badly as we do." He said as he waited for the call to go through.

"Mrs. Ortiz…" Hechler said aloud and McNorris nodded. Disliking one another aside, they each felt for victims and their families.

She'd lost her son to one of Guarino's tantrums. He was only _16 years old_, a low level street runner for the family that had seen a little too much, asked a few too many questions…it had earned him a bullet to the back of the head and a body dump in a vacant lot. McNorris had been on it like a dog on a bone, but there was no evidence to link the bastard to the crime…and one by one all of the witnesses had disappeared or recanted their statements until he was left with nothing…the case was dismissed.

"Maria! This is District Attorney McNorris, how are you doing?" He asked in a pleasant tone and listened to her struggle to sound cheerful in return. "Oh, yes…my wife is…she's doing well…" He answered and the officers in the room cast one another knowing looks. He'd been separated for over a year now but they could understand him not wanting to get into it. "Listen, I need your help with something…can you come down to the 15th? Do you need a ride?"

He finished making arrangements with her and hung up, his eyes wandering to the pacing blonde behind the glass. It was eerie that he'd already seen a mirror image of himself screwing the girl…he shook his head to clear his thoughts and tore his eyes from her. "Alright, she's on her way down here now. It should only take her fifteen minutes since she's at church a few blocks from here. So, here's where we're…" McNorris was saying but was cut off by Stevens.

"Guys…" He said, his voice distracted and they all turned to see what was wrong. "When was that tape recorded?" He asked and Turcotte approached the monitor.

"Umm…March 19th at 12:30 am. What was that, three days ago?" Turcotte said, turning back and adding. "Why does it matter?"

"_Oh Christ_…"Stevens said as he pressed a hand to his mouth. He turned the monitor enough for them to see crime scene photos of a crash involving a prison transport van and an SUV, scrolling through images of dead police officers and stopping at the photo that was most important.

"Lt. Esteridge was killed in the line of duty on the 20th." He said, looking at them with pained eyes. "Guys…she doesn't _know_."


	6. The Empty, Empty Page

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 6_**

**_"THE EMPTY, EMPTY PAGE..."_**

* * *

_**"The news that truly shocks is the empty, empty page...and I can't handle this...I grieve for you..." **_

_-- Peter Gabriel, "I Grieve"_

* * *

"I'm just gonna go ahead and act like that's not disturbing the hell out of me if that's okay with everyone. " McNorris joked, but his expression plainly showed how unnerving it was to see crime scene photos of what could have been his identical twin with a bullet to the forehead.

"So she has no clue…Christ, I didn't expect anything like this…who's gonna tell her?" Fearless asked with a hand over his mouth.

Hechler sighed. "Ordinarily I'd fall on that grenade, have had to too many times through the years…but that girl already hates me. She'd think I was getting a kick outta telling her or something."

Stevens nodded in agreement. "I'll tell her." He said softly and the other men gave him sympathetic looks as he picked up the file, along with a box of tissues, and headed out the door.

McNorris exhaled as they all walked over to the glass. "Well…this could go one of two ways…she could totally shut us out after this, or since she was apparently intimate with a cop she'll decide to help us to honor his memory…we could use that…" He thought aloud.

Hechler gave him a dirty look. "Just as slippery as a god damned eel, ain't ya?" He said in disgust. "We're informing a fallen officer's…significant other…or _whatever_ she was to him…of his death and all you can think about is a way to use her grief to your benefit. They're cozying up a room in hell for you as we speak, you do know that, right?"

McNorris arched a brow at the officer and shook his head, deciding not to start that argument as Stevens entered the room beyond the glass.

"Poor bastard…" Fearless breathed as he switched on the speaker and leaned against the frame.

"Poor girl…" Turcotte added, eyeing her with sympathy and taking a deep breath for what was coming.

* * *

The door opened and she turned to see which one was coming in, wondering if they would try good cop first, or bad cop.

_Stevens_…alright, good cop it is.

"Did you call Esteridge yet, or what? No…never mind. You didn't; if you had I wouldn't still be sitting here. So what's the plan, wait until you've held me just shy of 24 hours? Put it off as long as possible before you clear my name?" She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him defiantly…

But the sorrow in his eyes made her falter.

She'd been through this a million times before and had never _once_ seen a cop enter the room for questioning looking like they were ready to cry.

_What kind of new psychological tactic did they have planned?_ She wondered. _Maybe he was going to tell her some sob story about losing a relative to the shooter…or show her pictures of his previous victims to try to break her resolve_…

Stevens pulled a chair along side of her, not sitting across the table from her and she eyed him suspiciously as he set the folder and tissues he was carrying in front of them.

_What the hell was going on? _

He ran a hand over his face, leaning forward as if getting ready to tell her something private and resting his forearms on his knees, clasping his hands together before looking her in the eyes.

For some reason her stomach immediately started tying itself in knots. A pain was forming in her chest that she'd felt recently but couldn't place as her breathing quickened.

_Why did she feel like her world was about to come crashing down around her?_

After one last breath to settle his nerves he began speaking in a soft tone. "I tried to contact the New Mexico State Police Department to get a hold of Lieutenant Esteridge…"

"Uh huh…" She said, her heart thundering in her ears as she stared at him expectantly.

He bit his lip and looked down at his hands as he continued, not wanting to see the grief that would be in her eyes as he said the words…

"I am so sorry to have to tell you this… Alisha, Lieutenant Esteridge was killed in the line of duty." He said softly.

_

* * *

_

Have you ever witnessed the exact instant someone's heart was broken?

Beyond the glass the men all struggled with their own emotions.

* * *

Her face fell for a fraction of a second as the wind was knocked out of her; the anguish inflicted by his words had only just managed to get through before her mind put up its defenses, selecting denial as its first combatant of the truth.

"Umm…_I'm sorry_…what?" She asked, blinking repeatedly as if trying to clear her vision. _This had to be a hallucination or something. _

"He was following a prison transport vehicle carrying a dangerous murder suspect and there was…a collision…the details are still sketchy but apparently the prisoner got free…got a hold of one of the officer's guns and…" Stevens swallowed hard, bracing himself for her inevitable reaction. "I'm very sorry."

"See that's…" She began, standing from her chair quickly, sending it skidding across the floor behind her…needing to distance herself from what he was saying.

Her mind was chaos. She ran her hands over her face roughly, still trying to jar herself from this. "Umm…see that can't be right…because I just saw him and he was fine. In fact I was on my way back to see him _today_ before I got brought in here…"

Stevens looked at her with those sympathetic, soulful eyes and her breathing quickened.

"It must be some other Esteridge – there have to be dozens of them in that state. You've just got them mixed up." She insisted, but his eyes said otherwise.

"It's him, Alisha." He said softly, opening the file and handing over a report to that effect.

She snatched it from his hands and walked away from him. Her eyes quickly scanned it searching for _something_ to tell her it was wrong as she paced the room but she realized, with all the shock of a knife to her chest, that she'd never even asked his _first name_ when they were together.

_Michael_…

Seeing the desperation in her face he pulled another sheet from the file, he'd cropped the photograph to remove the top of the picture, where the fatal shot had made its entry, but still hesitated as he held it out to her.

She could tell this was it as she reached out to take the paper from him, _this was the end_…

Her eyes went to the image on the page and her knees buckled, she had to hold on to the edge of the table for support.

_And just like that all hopes of a case of mistaken identity were blown away. _

"_Oh God_…" She breathed as her eyes instantly filled with tears, her hand covering her mouth as she took in the image of his lifeless body. "But…but I was going to go back…_I was going to go_ _back_…" She pleaded as she slowly dropped to her knees on the floor, as if her intentions could fix this. "_I was coming back_…" She told the face on the page as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She would never feel his arms around her again; never hear him whispering to her sweetly again as she fell asleep.

The utter _finality_ of it hit her like a freight train. _Everything_ she wanted with him would never be. There would be nothing more for them. All of the possibilities lay there on the page with him, out of reach and gone forever.

Her fingertips traced the outline of lips she'd never again taste and her heart shattered inside her chest.

Everything had been left unsaid. It wasn't _fair_. There was so much he should have known…

She hadn't told him that he'd meant so much more to her than a one night stand…that his smile made her heart melt…that looking into his eyes made her want to change her ways…to be a better person **for him**…that he was worth suffering through the New Mexico heat…

But it was over. She would never speak to him again, she'd had her chance to say it all and had missed it.

"_Damn it, I __**told**__ you to be careful out there_…_I was coming __**back**_…" She sobbed to herself, breaking down completely at the memory of him smiling and winking at her, waiving at her over his shoulder as he walked out that door into the sunrise.

* * *

McNorris watched with a clenched jaw and veiled eyes, putting up his most convincing mask of invulnerability. Despite his front it was still deeply stirring to see the girl there beyond the glass, staring down at a photo of a reflection of his face and weeping inconsolably over the man's death.

Fearless shut off the speaker as she drew her knees up to her chest and let out a bloodcurdling scream of the most honest and unadulterated grief a person could endure.

The sight of it…let alone the sound…set every hair on end.

She sobbed uncontrollably, her head in her hands as Stevens went to her side, talking to her quietly…offering his condolences…she was too broken in that moment to protest his hand on her back, the tissues he was offering, his words of understanding for the pain of her loss.

The officers were each lost in their own silent thoughts, memories of so many times before when they'd seen this type of grief cutting them to the bone.

McNorris' cell phone rang and it actually startled him for a second before he recognized the sound. He cleared his throat as he crossed the room, making sure his voice wouldn't give a hint of the emotion that was constricting his chest before answering. "Yeah, go ahead….Okay, downstairs? Right…Have an officer escort her up to Interrogation Room 3…Thank you." He hung up and turned back to the others. "Mrs. Ortiz is here. We can get that translation now."

Everyone nodded distractedly; it was difficult to care about the case at hand in that moment.

McNorris actually found himself giving Hechler an appreciative smile when the officer drew the blinds, blocking out the sight of the grieving young woman beyond the glass…but he had a feeling he'd be seeing it in his mind for quite some time any way.


	7. David McNorris, The GQ DA

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 7_**

**_"DAVID MCNORRIS, THE GQ D.A."_**

* * *

Mrs. Ortiz was sitting at the table with the headphones on, Fearless beside her with a notepad jotting down her translations as she went.

"They talk fast…is different dialect, but I understand. Is like Spanish in Puerto Rico…but…eh…how you say _nordeste_…like they say near New York, _sí_?" She asked and McNorris smiled and nodded. "Big Dog, man is friend; older…calls her '_Joven'_…young one…is _amigo íntimo_, eh…good friends to girl, they speak very relaxed to one another…he is telling her about a game he is playing with others there…what she has missed while she away. She live with him there…he say '_**nuestro**__ casa' _to her, not '_**mi**__ casa_'…others live there…_Hector, Angel, Javier_…"

She looked at them in confusion. "All **men**. She no live with women?" She asked incredulously and Fearless laughed.

"Apparently not. Hey, Hechler – maybe you were right after all." He joked.

"She say she in trouble…**again**…" Mrs. Ortiz said, and McNorris sat down beside her, motioning for everyone to keep quiet. "Say she in prison in Los Angeles for stupidity…Man want to know if she will _ser condenado…_eh, how you say, be convicted_…._She say no, 'they' want her to talk…if she no speak she will be here in prison…." Mrs. Ortiz held up a hand and turned up the volume on the player, listening closely.

McNorris was at the edge of his seat waiting expectantly.

"Oohh…she say she is here in **big** trouble…she see something she no supposed to see. Say they dress like mafia…have big guns…powerful…" She looked over at McNorris and saw him nodding his appreciation and sighed as she continued. "Man is telling others to pack_…._He say '_¡rápido!'…" _She sighed knowing where the conversation would end. "He ask where she is…she tell him 15th district in Los Angeles…"

"Oh crap..." Fearless groaned as he continued to write, mindful not to curse in the woman's presence.

"She ask if he coming here…he say no worry…in a little while…soon…"

McNorris held up a hand pleading Hechler not to start his whining just yet.

"She say thank you...she will see him soon…." The recording stopped and Mrs. Ortiz removed the headphones. "You get her to talk?" She asked McNorris as she took his hand in hers.

"I'm going to try my best, Maria. But she's scared if she's calling her friends for help, it may be hard to convince her." He said honestly and she sighed and nodded.

"Is no easy to get people to speak against them. You try though, you always try." Her eyes were sad with memories of her son's death, so many witnesses had been there at the beginning, so many of them backing down by the time all was said and done.

McNorris bit his lip, she'd become a friend over the years and had always helped him in his attempts to take down Guarino, her advice was usually spot on. "Maria…this girl…she just lost someone close to her." He began and Maria closed her eyes and let out a sympathetic sigh. "I'm not sure what to do, though…because you see…" He reached over to the file and pulled a picture of Esteridge from the stack, not one of the crime scene photos, one from his record with the police department. "This is the man who died."

Maria's jaw dropped open as she picked up the photograph. "_Gemelo…_" She breathed, holding it beside McNorris' face.

"She just found out and now I have to go in there and speak with her about this case…" He said with a sigh.

"Is unbelievable…you look just alike…" She said in astonishment, and for the first time in years he watched a smile come to Maria's face without a hint of sadness behind it. "This is good sign. She was meant to meet you. You will see, this is good."

"It will be painful for her. You don't think it will make her eager to leave?" He asked and she shook her head emphatically.

"David, what are the _chances_ of this?" She asked as if talking to a child, her smile widening as she pointed down at the picture of Esteridge and he nodded. "Something brought her here now…brought her here to meet _**you**_, I say go to her and speak. Who are you to distrust fate?"

McNorris laughed softly and nodded. "Fair enough."

"You let her decide if it is difficult. May be hard at first…but she come around, you will see." She said reassuringly and gave his hand one last squeeze before standing from her chair. "You will call me if you need anything in this case, _sí_?

"I will. Thank you for your help, Maria. You understand why I didn't want to ask someone else." McNorris said with a sigh and she looked around the room of faces.

"You are all good men for this, I trust you will do your best to convince her to speak and keep her safe…and I pray it is enough to stop him finally. Be safe, David." She said as she gave him one last smile before turning and leaving the room.

They watched her open the door and sighed as Stevens entered beside her. "Mrs. Ortiz." He said with a weak smile and she nodded her head to him in greeting before exiting and closing the door.

"How is she?" Fearless asked and took in the stricken appearance of his partner's face.

"_Not_ good." He shook his head and exhaled sharply. "She wants a cigarette and a drink. Said the next person who goes in that room better have both for her or she's going to lawyer up…and she is adamant that she doesn't want to do that." He said as he walked over to the glass and pulled the blinds.

At least she was sitting in a chair again; the worst of her initial breakdown had passed.

"Can we do that?" Turcotte asked, casting McNorris a skeptical look. If the D.A. wasn't present he sure as hell wouldn't have asked.

McNorris sighed and ran a hand over the knotted muscles of his neck. "If it'll calm her down enough to talk, someone go get it for her. I've got a feeling she'll need it before I walk in there."

Stevens nodded and exited without another word, he'd only been waiting for the green light. A second later he was leaning in to the interrogation room beyond the glass.

"I'm not technically 'in here' so this doesn't count." He said and she let out a weak laugh, it wasn't much but it was something. "What do you want?"

"Did your ballistics guys tow my car in for evidence collection?" She asked, her voice still strained by tears and he nodded. "Good. There's a bottle of Jameson in the back seat, and I'd suggest grabbing me a carton of smokes from down there while you're at it."

"Got it, be back in a minute." He said with a smile.

Once the door closed she sat back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest, staring up at the fluorescent lights of the room and trying to calm herself down at least somewhat.

"_Jameson_?" McNorris said in disbelief. "That girl was sent here by something alright… the devil, I'm sure of it."

What did he have now, 8 months sober?

He was still struggling to keep it together, ducking temptation on a daily basis…and here comes some feisty little girl who slept with a clone of him and also happened to have a taste for his favorite whiskey. _Fantastic_. His AA sponsor was gonna love this.

"So let me get this straight, now we got a distraught, _violent_ little Philly chick on our hands who doesn't want to cooperate, apparently has a thing for men that look like our fair-haired boy the D.A. over here, and to top it all off a bus-load of her _compadres_ from Philly are flying in - just to keep things interesting?" Hechler said in aggravation. "And the morning started out so uneventful..."

* * *

"You're alright for a 5-0, Stevens." Alisha said with a weak smile as he returned with her bottle and cigarettes and he laughed.

"I'm glad to hear that, I was concerned." He said, taking a seat across from her after handing over her stress relievers and she tilted her head at him.

"So why'd you move from Boston?" She asked as she lit a cigarette and he arched a brow at her across the table. "And why _here_?" She added as she exhaled.

"My accent that bad?" He asked with a laugh and she smiled despite her puffy eyes.

"Like you didn't know I was from Philly the second I opened my mouth?" She said and he nodded.

"I'll give you that." He said, finding it funny that he was suddenly the one being questioned. "I was looking for something, you know? Just got in the car one day and started driving…this is where I ended up."

"Did your car get shot to shit so you couldn't leave?" She asked with the cigarette pressed between her lips as she opened the bottle of whiskey.

Stevens laughed. "No, can't say that it did."

"Hmm…well to each their own. I can't see staying here with a choice in the matter, personally…but hey, if you like it then _salud_." She held up the bottle and drank to his finding a place in the world…but then she would have drank to anything at that moment.

"How about you, why are you out here?" He asked, hoping to ease into questions.

It was a long moment before she finished drinking and smiled. "You know, I figured I'd get out…see the sights…maybe meet some interesting people…gotta say, I hadn't counted on the most interesting one to catch a bullet." She looked down at the table for a moment, dropping into thought before shaking her head. "Thems the breaks though, I guess." She said with a weak, sarcastic smile, her eyes watering up with tears she was holding back.

"Yeah, I was counting on you and I arguing….you calling me 'pig', me trying to trick you into saying something you didn't intend to…this sorta changed things." He said as he leaned back in the chair, clasping his hands behind his head and she laughed.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll still call you pig." She said with a smile.

A knock came from behind the glass and she rolled her eyes. "Who we got back there…Hechler? Or is he on a donut run?" She teased and Stevens laughed.

"Yeah, he's back there…" His face became serious. "Listen, the District Attorney is here…"

"Oh great, so you're gonna make me talk to the grand_ poobah_ of scumbag, fuck mook lawyers." She said with a scowl.

* * *

"_Ouch._" McNorris said in feigned offense behind the glass.

Hechler grinned. "Oohh. This is gonna be good. Somebody get me a camera set up, I want to capture the moment." He said excitedly.

* * *

"That's not why I was bringing it up…see, there's something you should know about David McNorris…he's…" Stevens began but was interrupted by another, more insistent knock on the glass. He sighed and gave up. "I guess you'll see for yourself." He said with a weak reassuring smile and stood from the table, exiting the room and leaving Alisha to wonder what the hell she was in for now.

* * *

"What gives? We're not gonna give her any warning?" Stevens asked in disbelief as he entered the room and McNorris smiled, he'd just opened his mouth to speak when Hechler cut him off.

"No, no, no. See your good friend the '_fuck mook lawyer'_ here figures the best way to earn a place in hell is to throw her off her game by _waltzing_ in there like Esteridge incarnate, actin like he ain't the spittin image of the poor, dead bastard." Hechler said in disgust.

Stevens stared at McNorris in shock. "Are you fucking kidding me? We've _gotta_ tell her." He said; beyond floored that he was actually on _Hechler's_ side about something.

"Look, if she's a bit disoriented by the resemblance it might work in our favor, I might be able to get her to talk. No matter what she's going to have to deal with me…I'm just not walking in there with a sign that says, 'Warning – I look like your dead boyfriend', it's not a big deal." McNorris shrugged off the apprehensive looks of the officers. "Wish me luck." He said with a smile and turned to leave.

"Have you _read_ her file? You piss off that little hellion you're gonna need a lot more than luck, _GQ_…and we might just have a tough time getting the door open…if you catch my drift." Hechler snapped at him.

"That man has no soul." Fearless said as the door closed behind the D.A. and they all turned to see whether he'd live through this discussion.


	8. Out of Nowhere

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 8_**

**_"OUT OF NOWHERE..."_**

* * *

Alisha was sitting at the table, using her elbow and fist to prop her head up with her eyes glued on the folder in front of her.

She had just settled into reading the report, struggling to keep her eyes free of tears as she searched for whether the one who pulled that trigger was still breathing.

If he was, and had gotten away, she would most definitely be paying him a visit…he might be able to hide from po-pos but he wouldn't get far once she made up her mind. If he was in jail it would only take a few phone calls, a couple of called in favors to make sure he died as gruesome and _painful_ a death as she wished for him…

But she sighed realizing it was precisely thoughts like that she had been willing to give up for Esteridge.

Exhaling sharply she turned the page and found that while Stevens had cropped out the bullet wound on Esteridge's forehead, he'd left the image of the dead convict in tact. It made her feel at least somewhat better seeing the murderous bastard had taken a shotgun blast to the face.

_If only it had been a few minutes earlier_…

She didn't look up as the door opened and a man entered the room, too lost in thought to pay him any mind.

"Alisha, I'm Deputy District Attorney David McNorris…I'm very sorry for your loss." He said softly as he took a seat across from her, resting his briefcase on the table and waiting.

She still wasn't tearing her eyes away from the picture in front of her.

"Yeah…everybody's sorry." She said with a weak smile, tracing her trembling fingertips over the image of Esteridge's jaw-line distractedly. "It's not gonna bring him back, though."

With a sigh she sat up straight, struggling to look away from the closed eyelids in the photo. She'd give anything to gaze into those blue eyes again.

"So you're the head snake in these pa—" She began but stopped the instant her eyes wandered to his face.

Her jaw fell open as the blue eyes she'd been wishing for stared back at her.

"_What the __**FUCK!**_" She screamed, scrambling to get to her feet and all but falling over she was backing away from the table so quickly, the chair skidding along behind her.

"It's okay…I know I look like…" He tried and her eyes almost popped out of her skull.

"_What the __**FUCK!**_" She screamed again, pointing at his face and backing closer to the wall.

"_Really_, it's alright. I realize there's a resemblance but…" He said calmly but she was beyond reason at this point.

Like a switch being flipped her emotion took a sharp turn from shock to anger.

"Resemblance? _**Resemblance**_? What is this some kind of sick fucking _**joke**_?" She demanded, her eyes burning with rage. "_**Come here**_…" She said, rushing toward him.

For a fraction of a second he really worried whether Hechler would stay true to his word if she was about to leap on him. Without a word she urged him to stand, and to his surprise she took his hands in hers, inspecting them in search of god only knew what.

He cast a skeptical look at the mirror, knowing the others were probably back there hoping for her to knock him on his ass.

She had to show herself that this was someone else before her anger could go any further…

_No calluses, no thick skin…these weren't the hands of the man she's fallen in love with…for fuck's sake they'd been __**manicured**__ recently…_

She let his hands drop in disgust and glared up into his face, her voice low and dangerous. "You came in here…knowing that you look _exactly_ like him…and you didn't let them say a fucking word, _did you?_" She was grinding her teeth together, stepping up even closer to him as rage hardened her features and he actually found himself fighting the urge to back away from her. "You thought I would, _what?_ Hang on to you and cry? Tell you everything as if you were _**him**__?_" She asked, her eyes taking on the strangest swirling of yellow and blue he'd ever seen.

David arched a brow, just opening his mouth to speak when an angry little fist came out of _**nowhere**_ and landed squarely on his jaw, all but making him lose consciousness.

Stevens and Fearless were rushing in the door in the blink of an eye, pulling her back as she started screaming.

But McNorris was still holding his jaw, the guys at the gym didn't hit _**half**_ that hard and even then it was with padding and gloves.

"_Come on, pretty boy…me and you…call off the 5-0 and take it like a man!_" She screamed as she fought against Stevens' and Fearless' grip in vain.

"Whoa, hon…easy! Easy!" Fearless urged as she fought to reach the D.A.

"Alisha, calm down, girl…" Stevens yelled next to her ear as he held her arms but she ignored him.

"_Fuck that! You know I'm right! Come on D.A., you think you're tough shit? Show me what you got!"_ She called, all but climbing over the detectives to reach him now.

"Oh…**my**…_**GOD**_…I am showing this at every police event for the next ten years!" Hechler said, nearly bursting with joy from his position at the door, a video camera slowly zooming in from her angry face over to McNorris' bleeding mouth and arched brow. He'd captured the entire thing and that tape was now more valuable to him than a year's salary.

"Enough!" McNorris called out finally, through with letting her vent. The volume of his voice was a stark contrast to the calm expression of his face. "Settle **down**."

Alisha eyed him for a moment, disgusted by the fact that part of her _melted_ in response to his order.

_God, but he looked exactly like him_…

"You _**son**_ of a…." She started again, nauseated by the fact that she was finding him attractive. "_**COME HERE!**_"

Turcotte rushed to help restrain her, the three of them struggling to keep a grip on her but it was no easy task, she was bucking them off and wiggling free of their grasp as quickly as they could get ahold of her.

And amid all the chaos Hechler sighed blissfully from the doorway. "This is better than sex." He mused and McNorris glared over at him. "Oh that is _beautiful_…now tilt your head up a little so we can get a look at that fat lip..."

McNorris rolled his eyes and took a deep breath as he stared at the screaming, writhing, _ANGRY_ little blonde that was fighting desperately to get her hands on him.

She was supposed to be his _witness_.

He groaned and rubbed his temples.

_This was __**not**__ going to be easy_.


	9. The Magic Word

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 9_**

**_"THE MAGIC WORD"_**

* * *

With a great deal of persuasion they got BadGirl back into her chair, Stevens handing her the bottle of whiskey and a cigarette in hopes of calming her down.

McNorris had to admit the Jameson looked _pretty damned friendly_ right then.

She took a drag and glared at him, still beyond pissed off that he'd thought to use her grief against her.

"So you got something you wanna say to me…. talk." She said, glaring at him despite the fact that her heart was reaching out to him, wanting to hold him and pretend, just for a moment, that he was Esteridge.

McNorris rubbed his still-tender jaw and she gave him a satisfied smirk. He let out a groan and began. "Look, we got off on the wrong foot here. You're right, I was hoping that seeing me would be enough to make you trust me…but let's be honest, it was an option worth trying given your general intolerance of lawyers and cops alike."

BadGirl thought about it for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek and motioning for him to continue.

_Alright, so maybe he had a point there…but she wasn't telling him that_.

"You saw something yesterday morning that makes you a liability to some pretty unsavory characters…you're not safe, they've already shown you that much." He said, locking his eyes on hers and she struggled to look away.

Rubbing her face in aggravation she replied. "I never said that I saw anything, you guys let me walk outta here and I'll be fine…not like I've never had to keep my head down before…" She said, averting her eyes from his at all costs.

Without another word McNorris stood from the table and she watched him in confusion. He grabbed her bottle of whiskey, cigarettes and ashtray before she could even manage a "Heeyy!!"

"Alisha, come with me." He said, heading toward the door and she stared at him in shock, looking around at the officers and detectives for an explanation.

"Don't look at me; I'm just as confused as you are." Stevens said, holding up his hands.

BadGirl growled and stood grudgingly, trailing along out the door after the Esteridge-look-alike.

She wasn't following McNorris…she told herself…she was just following the whiskey and smokes.

He turned the corner the second he reached the hall, opening the door to the room beside where they'd just exited. She was now beyond perplexed…especially when he allowed her to enter, but held up a hand when the others tried to follow along.

"Whoa…you think that's a good idea?" Fearless asked. "She might tar off and whoop your ass again."

"And how am I supposed to record it if she does?" Hechler whined.

McNorris just shook his head at them and slammed the door in their faces, locking it before turning and walking past her.

BadGirl stood still, eyeing him like he'd grown a second head as he noisily dragged a chair out to the middle of the room for her and motioned to it.

"Sit." He said shortly, and she arched a brow. McNorris couldn't help but smile at her defiance. "_**Please**_ sit."

She narrowed her eyes on him, trying to gauge what he was up to. She couldn't read this one, which was the problem with lawyers.

After a moment she sighed and sat down, but only after he offered her the cigarettes.

He dragged another chair across the room, this one right in front of her and took a seat. After taking a long whiff of the whiskey he handed it over to her, thankful to have it out of his grasp.

"Alright, I'm just going to put it all on the table for you. You don't like games and I don't have time to play them. Despite what this job requires of me I actually prefer cutting to the chase so thank you for being a no BS type." He began quickly and she realized, despite herself, that having his face this close to her was making her temperature rise. There was a different type of intensity in his eyes than Esteridge's, not kindness and caring…no, McNorris' gaze was filled with the flare of intelligence and unwavering ambition. "I realize that you wouldn't need anyone's help to keep you safe under normal circumstances…but this is different and you know that. I brought you in here because as much as you need us, despite the fact that you'll never admit it aloud, I wanted to make it perfectly clear that **I** most definitely need **you** in order to take this guy down."

_Good boy_. She thought to herself. _Run that game_.

"Now, no cops, no recordings, no one standing behind the glass watching you. Tell me straight. Just between **us** so I know what we're up against. Did you see his face?" He asked, looking into her eyes intensely.

She ground her teeth as she looked away. It was eating her alive to look at him and not be able to touch him, to know that it wasn't Esteridge.

"Off the record?" She asked, her eyes slowly returning to his.

"Off the record." He said, and she smiled discretely seeing that he had a tell when he spoke the truth. She'd save that knowledge for later.

With a sigh she leaned back against the chair, fighting down memories of when it had been Esteridge in front of her in a similar situation, her hands had been cuffed behind her back as he had flipped through her file. It had been the first time they'd seen one another.

"Yes." She said softly, fighting down emotions.

"Did he see you?" He asked, hating that he knew the answer. If Guarino had looked her in the eyes she most likely wasn't going to get away from him. He would know just how good a look she'd gotten at him.

"Yes." She said with a sigh, her resolve wavering under the gaze of those blue eyes.

"And did you actually see him pull the trigger?" He asked quietly, emotion passing over his features that she couldn't place, he looked down at his hands, away from her gaze as he said it…his jaw flexing and nostrils flaring.

Was he _concerned_ for her?

She was intrigued. The man before her was a mess inside, all held together by a suit that cost more than most people's cars and hidden behind an award winning smile...but she could see the tiniest cracks in the facade in that moment.

"I saw him point, shoot and kill the guy. He spotted me and aimed but the cops were coming, he had to get in a car and take off." She answered, taking a swig of the whiskey and licking her lips.

McNorris' eyes went to the bottle and her mouth as she did it and she looked over at him questioningly. "You want some?" She asked with a smirk, watching him arch a brow at the dual meaning to her question.

"I quit drinking." He said with a smile.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She teased, and hated the fact that just talking to him was making the pain in her chest subside. She shouldn't be able to joke around so soon, but it was so hard not to see him as Esteridge.

Then again, did she really have the right to grieve for Esteridge in the first place? What if it had just been a one night stand for him?

_She remembered looking up into those eyes when he asked __if he'd ever see her again. He'd seemed sad that she was leaving. And when he'd asked where she would go he'd seemed so hesitant...__"I'll probably hit the road and keep driving until I realize I better turn around and come right back here before you forget about me." She had teased, smiling as he caressed her cheek in his hand._

_"**Never**." He had said softly, leaning down and kissing her lips so sweetly..._

She cleared her throat, trying to jar herself from her memories…but her thoughts kept pressing on.

_McNorris was concerned for her because he understood that she wasn't safe…and that emotion she'd seen in his face told her he realized from experience the short life expectancy of witnesses going against this guy. _

_They had pulled out all the stops trying to get her to come out with the fact that she'd witnessed the shooting…so this wasn't some fly by night criminal, it was someone they'd been after for a while already. He was someone that needed to be stopped._

_Alright, Esteridge. I told myself I would have changed for you… _

"So let's say I did go on the record…what would happen next?" She asked nonchalantly.

McNorris gave her a relieved smile; those blue eyes glittering and making her heart skip a beat. _Damn him_. "We'd need to keep you somewhere safe until trial. I would say protective custody…"

She gave him a look that said '_definitely not'_ and his smile widened.

"But I'm bringing as few people in on this as possible." He finished and she sighed.

"So what does that mean?" She asked incredulously.

"We'd have to find a place for you to stay under the protection of those who are already involved." He said.

"So that means Stevens, Fearless, Hechler and Turcotte…and you?" She asked, and then rolled her eyes. "I am _**not**_ shacking up with Hechler." She insisted and he laughed.

"I doubt his wife would appreciate that." He said, which made him run through it in his mind for the first time.

_Stevens had enough on his plate with his wife still struggling to get over the loss of their child…_

_Fearless stayed at a freaking __Motel__ not far from where she'd been shot at…_

_Turcotte lived in a building directly across from one of Guarino's main offices…_

**Shit**.


	10. Aren't We All?

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 10_**

**_"AREN'T WE ALL?"_**

* * *

BadGirl had been almost as hesitant to accept the idea as he had been to suggest it…but here they were, driving through suburbia in his (she had to admit, _damned_ impressive) car.

He wasn't her type; she didn't go for the guy with the Mercedes with leather interior, the money and perfect suits and shined shoes.

But my _God_ did he make it all look good.

She struggled to keep her eyes to herself, listening to him yap on his cell phone about another case, another meeting, another warrant or appeal proceeding...all the while doing her best to resist the urge to snatch the phone away from him and toss it out the window.

He just didn't _switch off._

Dread filled her stomach imagining listening to him talking on the phone with this same maddening level of energy throughout the night. She'd have no choice but to hang herself in the bathroom.

She already knew what his office was going to look like when they reached his house, could imagine it in perfect detail. Every other room was bound to be immaculate…like something out of a catalog, items left out for display, not for actual use…there would be photos on the wall of happy times and achievements for people to look at and think everything was well in his world…

_But not his office…_

His office would be at the center of it all, private and locked away from prying eyes, cluttered and chaotic, no semblance of perceivable order …

With an arched brow she looked over at McNorris and realized that his home would be exactly like…

_**Him**_.

"Alright, I gotta go. I'm pulling in to my driveway now. Uh huh…uh huh…alright, I'll talk to you later." He flipped his phone closed and she fought back a smirk seeing the residence they had arrived at.

"_This_…" BadGirl said, pointing out the windshield as she leaned forward to get a better look. "Is _your_ house?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah." He answered distractedly, but catching the amusement in her face out of the corner of his eye he sighed. "Why?" He asked, getting the feeling he didn't want to know the answer.

"Huh? Oh nothing…nothing…It's great. Yeah, I really like it. It's so…what's the word I'm looking for?" She tried to maintain a straight face. "_Pink_."

McNorris opened his mouth for a second, about to argue that it was not…until he leaned his head to the side and realized he hardly ever looked up from his mail as he entered anymore.

"Shut up." He said with a smile. "I didn't pick the damned color."

She struggled not to laugh at him as they climbed out of the car, going to get her bags out of the trunk.

Suburbia skidded to a halt as she stretched, her miniskirt coming dangerously close to indecency as she looked around the street. She could have sworn sprinklers froze and dogs stopped barking as the land of perfectly manicured lawns and flowers tucked neatly in window-boxes noticed her arrival.

A neighbor across the street who had been walking toward their front door from their car was staring at her openly and she curled a lip.

"What the fuck is this guy's problem?" She asked as she motioned to him, her voice intentionally loud enough to carry to the gaper's ears.

McNorris' eyes widened and he pulled her over to him by her elbow, muttering through gritted teeth. "For the love of _God_, behave yourself" as he waived to the man across the street.

She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the neighbor in a quick 'greeting' that could also be taken for, "_if you're feeling froggy then leap, bitch_."

"Here." He said and without warning all of her bags were being dumped on her.

"Damn, all that?" She asked in amusement.

"Maybe if you're carrying everything you won't be able to start a fight." McNorris said, turning and starting up the walkway to his front door.

"Oh ye of little faith…I could be carrying a _refrigerator_ on my back and still manage to start a fight." She said happily as she tagged along behind him.

They entered the house and she grinned. "Yup, just like I thought it would be."

He cast her a confused look as he set the alarm but she just shrugged it off. "Where am I putting these?" She asked, shifting the bags in her arms impatiently.

"I guess…umm…" He started to point up the stairs and stopped for a second, once again having to think of a detail of the arrangement in the spur of the moment. "I guess you'll be taking my room…I'll stay in the guest room since it's at the top of the stairs." He left unsaid that it would give him a better chance to stop an intruder before it was too late, but she got the hint.

"Sounds good." She said and started up the stairs without another word.

McNorris stared at her for a moment, a little thrown that she hadn't waited to be taken. Falling in behind her on the steps allowed for more of a view than he'd bargained for…_and what a view it was_. He smiled as he bit his lip.

_Oh yes, he was in trouble_.

_**Tremendo**__ problema_…

"Earth to McNorris….did you hear me?" She called as he reached the top of the stairs.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, letting out a 'hmm?' as he realized she had said something while his mind was busy thinking about _her thighs in that tight little skirt that could so easily be slid up and…_

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, giving her that million dollar smile again and she sighed.

"You're a little out there, aren't you?" She asked with a mischievous grin. "I said, 'how long have you been separated?'"

"What makes you say…?" He began, he'd taken down all the pictures of her by now...stopped wearing the ring...none of her belongings were still there...

BadGirl only rolled her eyes.

"_Look_, you didn't pick out the pink exterior paint just like you didn't pick out that sofa down there…or any of the furniture, for that matter. There's a recliner set up next to the window in the living room with a light and table beside it for reading and I know _damned well_ you never stop working long enough to do that. You've still got an indent on your finger where your ring used to be...so you were married a few years at the least...and you still leave enough room for a car in front of yours when you pull in to the drive way." She tilted her head at him. "She used to get home before you, I take it."

McNorris leaned against the wall and eyed her suspiciously. "You…" he breathed as he pointed at her "…are a lot more than you let on to being."

"Hmm…aren't we all?" She said with a wink and turned from him, pushing the door open to his bedroom and disappearing within.

It took him a long moment to follow.

She was hopping up onto the bed as he entered, looking around for a moment before leaning over the side to fish something out of her bags…

_And yet another view he hadn't bargained for_.

He arched a brow and tried to contain his smile.

A moment later she sat up with a bottle of rum in hand and he was somewhat thankful that at least she didn't have whiskey.

A scantily clad blonde in his bed with a bottle of Jameson was likely to be his undoing.

She took a swig as she leaned against his headboard. "Mmm..." She mumbled, her lips wanting to speak before she'd even swallowed the rum and he smiled knowing whatever popped into this girl's head always seemed to make a direct run for her mouth. "This is going to be worse than prison." She said after she'd downed the alcohol. "At least they have basic cable there."

He laughed that she'd already noticed the lack of a cable box beside his television and nodded. "I never have time to…" He trailed off and grinned. "But never mind, you already know that."

"So what now? You go 'work' and I sit up here and count the nosey neighbors out the window?" She asked with a smirk.

"Something like that." He said. "I'm ordering food, what are you in the mood for?" He asked.

BadGirl arched a thoroughly amused brow, that mischievous smile spreading across her lips as she made herself comfortable against the pillows.

McNorris just shook his head and closed his eyes. "I'm not going to take the bait and change that question to, '_what do you want to eat?_' So Chinese it is."

She laughed at the direction he'd taken with that one and took another large gulp of rum as she watched him leave the room.

But once she was alone she fell back to chiding herself for being…_herself_.

It wasn't _right_.

Guilt washed over her every time she opened her mouth and spoke her mind with McNorris. Like she was forgetting Esteridge too soon…but to a small corner of her fractured and tormented heart this _was_ Esteridge, despite her mind facing the fact that it was someone else.

This wasn't her smoldering Lieutenant. This was _David_, a hot shot, fast talking DA with something to prove to the world.

But damned if she wasn't burning up for him, too.

She sighed and came to one conclusion…she was going to need **a lot** more rum…


	11. The Fun Kind of Masochistic

**Rated: NC-17**

**_

* * *

_**

ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 11

**_"THE FUN KIND OF MASOCHISTIC"_**

* * *

Dinner was light.

Conversation was..._cautious_.

BadGirl had never sidestepped and skirted so many issues before in a single sitting, a lawyer right down to the bone McNorris was trying to get in from every conceivable angle. She felt like she was already on the stand and this was just a _meal_ with the man.

But fair enough, she decided. If this was the path he chose to take she could converse in the same manner...and now David was narrowly dodging her double-edged questions.

There was a battle of epic proportions going on over pork low mein in a seemingly welcoming dining room.

She was sitting Indian-style atop her chair, which had been thoroughly amusing to watch. One second she looked like she was going to sit up straight, the next she was hopping up and tucking her legs beneath herself, winking in response to his surprised smile. Her bare feet, tank top and frayed skirt were a stark contrast to his barely flawed appearance across the table from her.

McNorris, home from a long day of politics and fast-paced legal maneuvering, had taken off his jacket…

That was it.

_**That**_ was relaxed.

She sighed inwardly that she was really going to have to help him loosen up.

"Just out of curiosity...what was the real reason for your decision to take this extended vacation to the west coast?" He asked, twirling his food distractedly. "Another instance of keeping your 'head down', perhaps?"

He smiled watching her carefully decide how to answer that one and took a bite.

"_Something like that_..." She said, eyeing him suspiciously and taking a drink.

"Knocked out the wrong guy, huh?" He asked with a smile and she narrowed her eyes on him over her glass.

The room fell to silence for a long moment.

"So tell me..." BadGirl said, blowing on a forkful of food to cool it and ignoring his question. "Why'd you two split?" She took a bite and gave a satisfied smile watching his body tense.

McNorris stopped mid-chew, arching a brow at her decision to go straight for the jugular. He had told her he appreciated her forwardness, now he wasn't so sure. He was used to being the one asking the uncomfortable questions.

"Long, _boring_ story...believe me. Far too long to tell over dinner." He tried, but she just smiled knowingly.

"Sure, you may say long story, but I hear...what's that?" She cupped a hand to her ear and leaned closer. "Oohh...unable to leave work at the office? Yeah, that will strain a marriage. And alcohol became an issue? Huh, yeah...sounds like the nail was in the coffin at that point. And what else? Ouch, _and _infidelity? I'll give you this much credit – when you do something, at least you do it right."

"Well played." He said with a grin.

"Thank you, I try." She smiled and took another bite.

"And your father, was he out of the picture completely...or just tied up doing something else when you were little?" He asked and she nearly choked on her wine. "Because I gotta tell you, I'm getting this whole _'daddy issues' _vibe from you like he didn't hug you enough when you were a kid." He leaned back away from the table and held his hands up, waiving them and grimacing as if it was a bucket of worms he didn't want to get into.

She burst out laughing and nodded. "Touché, McNorris. Touché. If you must know he was a cop..."

McNorris' eyes widened in genuine surprise. "_Really_?" He asked, taking a drink of his water and marveling at this new twist. He sure as hell hadn't seen that one coming.

"Yes, _really_. He was hardly ever home until he left the force and opened that mechanic's shop...I barely knew him until I was a teenager learning how to wrench with him. I mean, don't get me wrong - it's not like I have to _strive to do good in order to shed the shadow of his misdeeds_ or anything, but I guess there may be some daddy issues there..."

His jaw dropped open for a fraction of a bewildered second. She was so on target it was eerie.

"If you want I can just start hitting you again." She said with a wink and leaned back in her chair, drawing her knees up to her chest and motioning to him with her glass. "Since you seem to be after punishment for some reason."

David smiled and wiped his mouth with his napkin, resting his arms on the table and looking around the room as he thought things through. "You're a piece of work, you know that?" He said as he pointed at her and she shrugged.

"And you're masochistic…but not even in the fun way." She mused, smiling to herself wickedly at some thought she didn't share.

It only intrigued him more.

After a moment of contemplating where her mind had taken that sentence he cleared his throat and moved on.

"So let me get this straight…because now you've got me confused…your father was a cop, you don't have a problem with your father, but you have a general disgust for cops and lawyers?" He was smiling as he said it, assuming it was safe territory.

But the sudden and drastic change in her expression told him under no uncertain terms that he'd just struck a nerve.

"_**That**_, District Attorney McNorris, _**is**_ a long, boring story..." She said, her face lacking any hint of amusement or sarcasm as she threw his own words back at him. "_Far_ _too long_ to tell over dinner."

Just that quickly the room fell back to silence.

"Right…" He breathed after an awkwardly long moment, eyeing her suspiciously. He was tempted to press further, but judging by the severity of her features he decided against it.

They made small talk for a while after that, but McNorris was far more reserved. His insatiable curiosity was busily sorting through every fact he'd learned about her like pieces to a puzzle, frantically searching for the answer to his question.

He'd withdrawn into his office the instant the table was cleared, saying that he needed to send out a few emails and make a few phone calls.

She'd opted to sit in the living room…_staring at the walls_.

The man desperately needed to get cable or she was gonna start looking for other ways to amuse herself. That was how she _always_ got into trouble.

After sitting in silence for about a half an hour she gave up and wandered to the closed door at the end of the hall, knocking twice before opening the door.

"Yup…I was right again." She said with a grin as she leaned in to his office and took in the mountains of paperwork stacked in all directions. The walls were still painted halfway, likely the same as they had been a week after he'd moved into the house as if he'd barely moved in the door before being overrun with work.

"Oh…sorry, I just need to finish this one…" He began, seemingly startled by her presence and she held up a hand.

"It's fine, I'm beat anyway. I'll see you in the morning." She let her eyes wander over his face for a moment, giving him a smile he hadn't seen grace her lips before. "Goodnight." She said softly, her features so relaxed and borderline…_sweet_…as she did that it threw him off for a second.

"Umm…_Goodnight_." He said, and it sounded more like a question than a statement. He watched her close the door before allowing his brows to draw in confusion. The girl ran frustratingly hot and cold in his presence, a matter he'd eventually need to address…but for now he had something on the screen in front of him that demanded his full attention.

_Her file_.

He justified it to himself as necessary to read it, and in all actuality he truly did need to in order to prepare for the questions the defense would raise about her character. But part of him wanted to know what he was up against on a more personal level, and that worried the hell out of him.

Her constant self medication with alcohol was instantly justified in his mind as he backtracked through the numerous reports of her involvement in brawls and stumbled across the beginning of it all.

Hell, even _he_ needed a drink and he was just _reading_ about it.

_Internal hemorrhaging, broken bones, blunt-force trauma_…the words jumped off the screen at him.

Snatched from a crowded street in broad daylight she'd wound up spending four weeks in an ICU…the first two of which she'd spent in a coma…and it was another month after that before she had been able to leave the hospital.

He let out a sigh, partly wishing he hadn't read as much as he did…but as he scrolled through the report things started to bother him aside from the severity of what she'd been through.

For official documentation of such a brutal attack it just didn't makes sense, details were skipped over…evidence that was described in some statements was left out of others…items were lost in the shuffle…

Witnesses of her abduction had recanted their statements…

The D.A. overseeing the case had missed filing deadlines…

Crucial DNA evidence had been…_misplaced_…

He covered his mouth with his hand. They'd _**had**_ the guy.

They'd _**caught**_ him dead to rights.

But by the time she woke up they'd already screwed things up so severely that he'd walked away clean.

"Okay…" He said quietly, looking up at the ceiling. "So maybe I'm beginning to see why you don't like cops and lawyers..."


	12. Taking Off The Mask

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 12_**

**_"TAKING OFF THE MASK"_**

* * *

He opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling, blinking and taking a moment to remember why he wasn't in his own bed…or even the bed of the guest room, for that matter.

For whatever reason he'd stopped at the couch. He was reluctant to own up to the fact that it was partly caused by his worry about wandering up the stairs after reading what the girl had been through. He wanted to say something to her about it. For Christ's sake, give her a _hug_ or something and tell her he was sorry for what had happened to her. Try to offer even a small measure of comfort for all of it on top of the news she'd gotten about Esteridge…

But she was tipsy and wearing a miniskirt…she was in his bedroom…and truth be told, it had been a _while_.

So he remembered why he was down here, great.

Now why was he awake?

A small thud came from the ceiling above his head and instantly the fog of sleep cleared. His eyes flashed over to the alarm pad on the wall, squinting to make out the word "ARMED". It would have triggered if the doors or windows had been moved…but he knew better than to trust that alone with Guarino's men.

As silently as possible he retrieved his gun from the office, something that had become necessary over the years as guys he'd had locked up were released.

_Shit, _he chided himself, he should have been _upstairs_.

The hardwood floors were cool beneath his bare feet and he was at least thankful that by now he'd learned every creak and groan of the stairs so that he could avoid them. He was still wearing his slacks, which was a plus since he hated the thought of dying in boxers, the buttons of his shirt were undone and he pulled it off and dropped it in the hall. His undershirt would provide enough cover to make the thought of Hechler discovering his body a bit more tolerable, but without the dress shirt he'd have better range of motion with his arms.

His heart was in his throat, his eyes wide and searching for any hint of movement in the darkness. A pang of guilt was all but stealing his breath at the thought of her being murdered, after surviving the rest of it, just because _he'd_ convinced her to testify…

Taking a deep breath he pushed the door to his bedroom, immediately fighting back fear for her as he found the bed disheveled…but empty.

"Shit." He mouthed silently, grinding his teeth and leaning into the room slowly, not allowing any part of his body to pass the door until he was certain no one was waiting behind it.

At an agonizingly slow pace he entered the room, seeing the bathroom door closed over halfway…just enough to make it a potential threat.

_Screw it; what did he have to live for anyway_? He thought sarcastically, taking a step toward it until…over the thundering of his heart in his ears…

_A whimper…_

_A sniffle_…

His brows drew together as he turned back toward the bed. He'd definitely heard it. With his finger still on the trigger he backed toward the sound, holding his breath and expecting the worst as he reached the other side.

"Hey…" She said softly and he exhaled.

No blood, no intruder holding her at knife point…

"Hey." He said back with a sigh, putting the safety on the gun and looking around the room one last time before setting it down on the bedside table. He switched on the light and it took him a moment to even recognize her.

Apparently fresh from a shower, her hair was damp and wavy. Her face lacked even a trace of the makeup she'd worn earlier, like she'd finally taken off the mask she'd been hiding behind.

This was _Alisha_ staring back at him for the first time, no strong fronts or attitude, no smart-assed remarks…just the woman behind the BadGirl.

He couldn't help but smile and arch a brow as he knelt in front of her and noted her current…attire. One of his dress shirts covered her to mid-thigh, the top few buttons undone.

Victoria's Secret had _nothing_ on a woman wearing one of his shirts.

She noticed his reaction and blushed, ever so slightly, which shocked the hell out of him. Her voice was soft and barely audible as she explained. "I'm sorry…I don't usually wear anything to bed…I figured I should put something on to cover up. I hope you don't mind."

"No, no…it looks _infinitely_ better on you anyway." He said with a smile and she forced one in return…the action making the tears that were filling her eyes more noticeable. McNorris sighed. "Are you maybe just a _little_ _bit_ drunk right now?" He asked slowly and she nodded her head emphatically. "Alright, you're more than a little bit…so…what are you doing down here?"

Her bottom lip trembled; it was more adorable than it had a right to be. In fact the entire vision of her in that moment was. Oversized shirt, dripping wet hair, soulful eyes and pouty mouth.

It had _definitely_ been a while.

"I ran out of booze." She whimpered, motioning to the empty bottles to her side and his eyes widened.

"_You_ drank all of _that_?..._**Tonight**_?" He asked in disbelief as he lifted a few of them for inspection. Grey Goose, Schnapps, Chambord, Tequila…the girl had a freaking _arsenal_ of alcohol hidden in her bags.

She nodded, tears falling down her face as she started to loose it.

"And I really need a cigarette and I didn't want to smoke in your house because _you_ don't smoke but I didn't want to open a window and trip the alarm and I didn't want to wake you up since you looked so _peaceful_ down there and there is NO food in your fridge and I can't find anything to distract myself and…" She was bawling by the time she took a breath, her voice straining as she fought back a sob and finished. "_Your VCR won't __**work**_." She held up the tape and let out a long whimper as she closed her eyes and tried to get her tears back under control.

"I still _own_ a _VCR_?" He asked in mock disbelief, giving humor a try to cheer her up.

It didn't work.

"Oh _God_…" She sobbed and let the tape slide to the floor by her side as she covered her eyes and let it out, her body quaking as she wept uncontrollably.

McNorris bit his lip.

Hesitantly he reached a hand out to her trembling shoulder. "Hey…_hey_, it's okay…" He said softly.

Nope, not helping.

He rolled his eyes and prayed for strength.

Slowly…cautiously…he put a hand on her other shoulder and started to pull her toward him. In an instant she was in his arms, hanging onto him and sobbing incoherently. Something about '_deserving this'_ and '_shouldn't even bother'_…

"_Shh_…it's alright, sweetie…it's gonna be alright…" He soothed, feeling completely useless here and hoping he was helping. He wasn't really the 'shoulder to cry on' type.

But he must have been doing something right because the instant he brought his arms down around her she nuzzled against him like life itself. He sat back on the floor and pulled her up into his lap, forcing himself to ignore the feeling of her bare legs beneath his hands as he did it.

She stayed like that for almost a half an hour, the glowing red digits on the alarm clock beside him telling him as much and finally, slowly, the trembling of her shoulders began to die down. He sighed thinking it was over…

Until her whimpers began to change pitch…

His brows drew together and then arched in surprise as he listened closely and caught a soft _moan_ beside his ear.

_Uh oh._

The hammered little scantily clad blonde in his lap had just taken notice of his bare shoulders, the scent of his cologne and skin…and before he knew it her hands were wandering up to the back of his head as her mouth began leaving a trail of hot kisses across the nape of his neck, more breathy little moans escaping her as she did.

His eyes rolled closed and he exhaled choppily, his jaw dropping open as his body instantly accepted her invitation.

By some miracle, likely stemming from his total sobriety and her complete lack there of he snapped out of it.

"Hey…no, no, no, no, no….okay, somebody's had a _few_ too many…" He said as he pulled her away from him. Her eyes were opened just barely as she looked up at him and he smiled. "You need to get back into bed, sweetheart…and you need to do it _without_ _me_." He heard himself say and figured somebody up there had been listening to his prayers for help on this one.

As gently as possible he urged her to stand, which at this point was pretty much _entirely_ of _his_ volition. He rested her back on the bed and pulled up the covers, part of him dreading having to have a discussion with her in this thoroughly inebriated state that he wasn't Esteridge…

But by the time he'd pulled the blanket up to her shoulders she was out like a light.

He let out a deep breath and eyed her sympathetically; she had a hell of a lot on her plate. It took longer than it should have to get his legs to carry him out of the room, and as he reached over to turn off the light and pick up his gun he was _floored_ to catch himself leaning down and kissing her forehead.

_Oh yeah, the thoughts in his mind went beyond attorney/client privilege. _

He shook his head at himself as he closed the door and went to try and get some sleep.


	13. Choose Wisely

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 13_**

**_"CHOOSE WISELY"_**

* * *

Her head felt as if it had swollen to the size of the pillow she was hiding it under. There were hangovers, and then there was..._this_.

This was a _whole new _ballgame.

The sound that had jarred her to consciousness repeated yet again. Grudgingly she opened one eye halfway and peeked her head out to find the source of the racket.

Sitting on the edge of the bed beside her was McNorris, already dressed to the nines with that million dollar smile spreading across his lips, the container of antacids he'd been shaking still in hand.

With a groan she covered her eyes as the pillow was slowly lifted the rest of the way off of her face.

"Good morning, sunshine." He said in a tone far too chipper for her current state of post-drunkenness.

She eventually removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes just barely, scowling up at him. "_Noooooo, _McNorris... what _time _is it?" She whined and he laughed, looking down at his watch.

"7:15 am, time for all good little BadGirls to rise and shine." He said and she snatched the antacids from his hand before rolling away from him quickly.

His brow arched as she did it.

Here she was, hair adorably disheveled, having kicked the blankets off of herself at some point during the night and rolling across _his_ bed still wearing _his_ shirt...

A shirt which was currently hiked up around her hips.

He sighed at the stretch of pale skin and lacey black boy-short panties and decided she was most definitely testing her luck...as well as his resolve.

"Why in God's name are you waking me up?" She complained and he resisted the urge to crawl across the mattress to show her.

He settled for clearing his throat. "Since I have to leave for work in a few minutes that means Stevens and Fearless will be here to babysit you. I figured I'd spare them the shock of coming up to check on you when you're dressed like..._that_..." He smirked as she turned and looked at him in confusion, then down at herself.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly. (Not making a single effort to cover up, mind you.)

"Oh...sorry, I guess I just threw it on." She yawned and stretched and he shook his head watching her draw her knees up to her chest.

He didn't make a move, even though he'd seriously, _seriously_ considered it…but he'd be damned if was going to miss out on the opportunity to enjoy the view it allowed of the back of her thighs and…_other lace-clad regions of her body_…the instant her eyes were closed.

"I don't usually wear anything when I..." She continued as she opened her sleepy eyes again and he smiled.

"I know, you told me." He said, finding that the mornings after drunken binges were far more amusing when you weren't the one experiencing them.

"I did?" She asked, her brows drawing together as she tried to recall the conversation.

McNorris laughed. "You don't remember anything about last night, do you?"

"No..." She said, and after a moment turned her eyes on him suspiciously. "S_hould I?" _He only grinned in response and she rolled her eyes. "What_ happened?"_ She sighed.

"So glad you asked..." He made himself comfortable on the bed, leaning back against the headboard and smiling wickedly as he wove the tale. Gesturing with his hands for emphasis and furthering his own amusement. "Well, first we fooled around downstairs for about an hour...and let me assure you, I will _never _look at chocolate and strawberries the same way again. After that we made wild, passionate love for hours on end...and we're talking full on tantric sex, here. I was _phenomenal_...you were..._eh_..." He said with a quick curl of his lip and handed her a cup of coffee, maintaining his smile as he waited for her reaction.

BadGirl gave him a mock scowl. "Well now I _know_ you're lying." She said, fighting back her own smile as she took a sip of the blessed caffeinated beverage. "You would still be recovering if you and I had done anything intimate last night and _'eh'_ would be the _last_ way you would be describing it...unless it had been one of the millions of sounds I worked out of you..." Her eyes flashed mischievously.

Another arched brow paired with another million dollar smile. _They were growing on her._

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind for future reference." He said and gave her a wink.

She tilted her head to the side, studying him as thoughts began forming in her wicked little mind with regards to his tie...and all the ways she could amuse herself with it...

Saved by the bell, or rather, the cell phone, he held up a finger as if to say, 'hold that thought' and stood from the bed.

"Stevens, how far out are you?" He asked, watching her climb from the bed and slink away to the bathroom. He said a silent prayer that she wasn't getting changed just yet, he was nowhere near finished enjoying the view. "Uh huh…right…okay, I'll see you in five –"

BadGirl's head came back out the door in an instant. "Hey – ask him to stop at the Wawa and grab me some TastyKakes, would ya? I'm _starving_."

McNorris eyed her like she was speaking another language and answered Stevens' question of '_what'd she say?_' in his ear. "Umm…something about wanting a wa-wa and tasty cakes…."

Stevens laughed. "Tell her we don't got Wawa's out this far and she'll have to settle for a different brand for a sugar high."

Fearless cast him a sideways 'what the hell are you talking about' look from the passenger seat and he shook his head.

"He said you're on the wrong coast for either of them." McNorris said, thankful to have a translator for another language she seemed to speak fluently.

"Damn it, I _knew_ I hated this place. Alright, tell him chocolate Teddy Grahams, a bottle of Jolt and the latest issue of MotorTrend." She said and he stared at her for a long moment before sighing.

"Did you catch all of that? Alright, I'll see you in…ten…" McNorris said and closed his phone.

"Mwah! Thanks, babe!" She said with a wink and closed the door to the bathroom again.

McNorris let out a little 'humph', mouthing 'teddy grahams?' and heading out the door of the bedroom.

He jogged down to his office, shutting off his computer, grabbing a few of the files he would need and his briefcase before returning to the bottom of the stairs. He could hear her walking around up there by now and looked down at his watch. "_Shit_…" He was running late and she'd only been there one night. "Alright, I'll be back later tonight…do me a favor? Try not to burn the place down or anything while I'm gone." He called up the stairs and waited for her to appear at the top.

He smiled contentedly that she was still wearing his shirt.

"I'll try, but I promise nothing." She said, toothbrush in hand and a big grin on her face. "Oh, and David?" She added as he turned to leave.

He backed up a few steps and looked up at her pleadingly; he _really_ needed to get going.

Within two seconds he no longer cared where he needed to be. Lateness be damned….

His jaw fell open as she proceeded to turn around and hike that shirt up to the small of her back, leaning a hand on the wall and sticking her ass out for him. She smiled down at him over her shoulder, wiggling her hips before giving her ass cheek a good smack. "Next time you wanna look just let me know."

His briefcase fell to the floor noisily.

His feet started to carry him back to the stairs without a single thought other than _carrying her back to that bed, peeling off those panties and…_

A knock at the door froze him in place as he reached the first step.

There hadn't been a single instance of worse timing in the history of the world in his mind.

"Ah ah ah…_choose_ _wisely_, McNorris." She said with a wink and sat down at the top of the stairs…providing an encore of the view he'd apparently been caught stealing earlier.

He already had his hands on the rails where they had been when he'd stopped racing toward her and his knuckles were turning white as Fearless and Stevens knocked again.

"You are an _evil_ little temptress." He said, his jaw flexing in frustration.

"Oohh…but you fucking _love_ it…" She said, blowing him a kiss and he bit his lip.

She was waving a big red cape at a charging bull, and what made matters worse was that she _knew_ she was doing it.

Unbeknownst to him she had the ability to tell by scent alone a man's level of sexual frustration…like blood in the water to a circling shark. McNorris happened to be _radiating_ it.

There might as well have been a flashing neon sign over his head that said, 'I desperately need ass, BadGirls welcome'.

The front door opened and he was hard-pressed to turn away from her and acknowledge the detectives as they entered.

"What you didn't hear us knocking? Hey…McNorris? You alright?" She heard Fearless ask and waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively, popping open another button at the top of the shirt and spreading her legs as she bit her bottom lip.

McNorris' face was steadily turning crimson, his breathing ragged with the level of restraint it was taking not to rush back up those stairs. "Huh? Umm…yeah…" He arched a brow at her and cleared his throat. "I was just heading out…"

She grinned and mouthed, "_Head?_" and pointed over her shoulder toward the bedroom.

McNorris' jaw dropped open again.

So yeah, BadGirl was definitely feeling better.

"I'll be back later tonight…" He said to the detectives, but the way his eyes were burning into hers made it very clear that statement had been meant as 'and when I get here, _you_ are in _big_ trouble'.

She winked at him and took her time getting to her feet, or rather, flipped over in the other direction and _crawled_ to a standing position.

McNorris cleared his throat and shook his head, managing a hoarse "Gentlemen" as he passed the detectives and walked out the front door praying he wouldn't crash his car on the way to work.


	14. Philly PIMP

**Rated: NC-17**

**_

* * *

_**

ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 14

**_"PHILLY P.I.M.P."_**

* * *

Concentrating on court documents and securing a warrant for Guarino's arrest was a lot more difficult now that he had the image of those ass cheeks burned into his memory.

Did I mention it had been a _long time_?

He managed to make it through the first half of the day by some miracle, getting the wonderful phone call around noon advising him that Guarino was in custody. No rest for the wicked, though. He still had a lot of calls to make, people to see, forms to complete…

But damned if he didn't catch himself heading out to 'lunch' with one thing on his mind. It was too far of a drive for him to make it to his place for a quickie and return before the end of the day (and that was partly because he had no intentions of it being quick), but he'd had an idea occur to him shortly after arriving at his office. It would cheer her up the rest of the way and was worth a drive into the busiest part of the city...

He was almost to his car when his phone rang and he answered it hesitantly, already knowing that he'd get terrible reception at this section of the parking garage.

"McNorris here." He said, covering his other ear and pressing the phone closer listening to a garbled voice on the other end of the line.

"…._came….station….looking for_…" The dispatcher from the 15th said and he sighed.

"I'm sorry; you're breaking up…who came to the station?" He asked.

"…_looking for Alisha…didn't know…to your office…soon_…" His eyes were squinted as he tried to make out what she was saying, but the last words made his expression fall.

In the window of the van to his side he made out the shapes of two men following him and ground his teeth together. _Already_? _And here, at the courthouse_?

He started walking again, figuring if he could at least get into the car he could run them over…

But a man stepped out in front of him and stopped him dead in his tracks.

Shaved head and face, save for the mustache, eyes hidden behind a pair of dark shades, a massive Puerto Rican man now towered over him. His arms were crossed over his chest and his jaw was flexing impatiently.

McNorris' eyes quickly wandered over the tattoos covering his oversized forearms, the chain around his neck and thugged-out clothes.

He let out a slightly nervous laugh as several men closed in behind him. "You would be Big Dog." He said, praying he was right.

"And you be dat D.A. I'm lookin for." Big Dog said in recognition, the bass of his voice echoing through the garage. He turned away from McNorris, running a hand over his face and struggling to keep his temper in check. "I go to the station and they say to me some cat McNorris gave the order to waive charges against little Loca. Funny thing, though – no one seems to know where she at...even wit her car still there. So since she no call _me_ sayin there a change in plans, I'm only gonna ask this once nicely." He turned back to McNorris and stepped up to him, his face mere inches away as he took off his shades and glared down into his eyes. "_Where_…is…_she_?"

McNorris leaned back a little, looking around the group of ex-con types, not one in the bunch less than two inches taller than him or lacking a thorough covering of tattoos…and _every_ _one_ of them looked as pissed off as the one in his face.

"She's…keeping her head down…" McNorris said slowly, watching Big Dog's brow arch and nostrils flare at the words he knew had come from her. "It's the only thing that's going to keep her safe until trial."

Big Dog turned away and laughed, the booming sound reverberating off the walls as he clapped in amusement. "No, _gringo_…" He said, smiling back at him as he said. "You're **looking** at the only thing that's gonna keep shorty safe." He said, motioning to himself and the mob surrounding them. "You take me to my _Joven_ now." He said, nodding and walking away.

It _wasn't_ a question.

In fact the group disbanded before McNorris could even _attempt_ to say another word. His mouth hung open uselessly as the men disappeared among the parked cars and he growled in frustration before climbing into his own vehicle.

"Fuck!" He yelled in surprise as the bald head leaned down into his window without warning.

Big Dog smiled. "Widow gonna ride wit you to keep you safe." He said and McNorris rolled his eyes as another bald Puerto Rican man climbed into his passenger seat.

This one only shaved his head to find more space for tattoos, apparently. He looked like he could bench-press the Mercedes and from his left eye to his chin a spider had been inked. "Say hi, Widow." Big Dog said with a laugh and the man waived to McNorris.

"_Hola, gringo_." He said as he grinned.

Big Dog's face became serious and he knelt down beside the car, which horrifyingly enough still left him tall enough to drape his arms across the opened window. "_Escuchame _D.A. – there was men here earlier nosin around your car…we took care of it but you need to keep it in your head - you no safe."

McNorris stared at the man in shock.

Firstly, that he'd already had Guarino's men scouting his car.

Secondly, that Big Dog and this group of strangers had looked out for him before they'd even met him.

Thirdly…what did he mean, '_took care of it'_?

He didn't want to know.

"Now…let's go see Loca." Big Dog said with a grin and knocked on the inside of the door impatiently, standing and whistling before calling out in Spanish across the parking lot.

"This is god damned _perfect_…" McNorris grumbled under his breath as he pulled out onto the street and to his great displeasure he watched as one…two…_THREE_ tinted out black Escalades fell in behind his car. "Oh, yeah…way to stay low key." He said sarcastically as he glared up at the rearview.

As if answering his frustration the radios started at that point, the bass making the images of their vehicles in his mirrors tremble. "Fucking _fantastic_! Why don't we just call Guarino now and get it over with."

"You're a funny cat, D.A. Ju know dat?" Widow said in amusement from the passenger seat and McNorris only glared over at him.

* * *

BadGirl was rocking a pair of denim capris and a camouflage tank-top as she lay upside down on the couch flipping through her magazine.

Hechler and Turcotte had just arrived to change shifts with Stevens and Fearless and the four were now engaged in some boring discussion that had _nothing_ on the article she was reading about the new Mercedes R500 concept car.

Her toes were swinging to an unnoticed beat as she turned the pages, practically drooling over the design of the new vehicle…before long she was humming the song…and after a moment she was singing along.

"_Shake your tambourines go and get yourself a whistle and shake your tambourines go and get yourself a whistle and…" _

Her eyes widened as she realized what she was singing.

"Whoa…guys, we got company…." Stevens said and before she could get a word in Fearless was hauling her off the couch and toward the back door, stopping for an indication of which direction they would need to go.

Hechler and Turcotte went to the windows, watching as the Escalades parked in front of the house. "Oh Christ…" Turcotte breathed.

"Wait…wait…" He said as McNorris got out of the car. "It's just the fair-haired boy…" His eyes focused in on the attire of the men who were now climbing out of the SUVs. "And what looks to be the entire offensive line for the Eagles."

"My boys!!" She squealed and wiggled out of Fearless' grasp before he could get a word in end wise.

She rushed out the front door and Big Dog, who had been brooding and eyeing McNorris up a moment earlier immediately started smiling and laughing, talking quickly in Spanish as she leapt at him.

"Chino! Papi! _¿Cómo estás_?" She was instantly jabbering back to him just as fast, hanging on him as he swung her back and forth with her feet off the ground.

McNorris stood at the front door, him, Turcotte, Hechler, Fearless and Stevens all wearing the same thunderstruck expressions as the group of seemingly hardened criminals before them turned into a pack of teddy bears.

"Hector!" She said with a laugh and he picked her up the instant Big Dog had set her down.

The group closed in around her, all talking fast and laughing, giving her playful shoves and tussling her hair as she greeted them. She laughed and started play fighting with Hector and McNorris shook his head.

The girl had _thirty_ big brother types...and apparently, one Papi.

After a moment McNorris cleared his throat and all at once the group stopped talking and turned at him. He cast a purposeful look around the neighborhood and motioned toward the backyard with his head.

BadGirl gave him an apologetic look as the group filed behind the house and out of the view of the street and he slowly fell in beside her.

"Thank you for bringing them here." She whispered and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because Big Dog over there really gave me a choice in the matter." He said and ignored the glare those words earned from her 'papi'. He leaned in closer to her, his mouth an inch from her ear as he whispered. "This changes _nothing_. You're still gonna get it."

She grinned up at him, her eyes flashing with mischief again. "That's the best news I've heard all day."


	15. Talking Business

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 15_**

**_"TALKING BUSINESS"_**

* * *

"_Ven acá, Loca_." Big Dog said and patted the seat beside him. She laughed and sat down, smiling back at the sincere happiness in his features at seeing her safe. He spoke to her in Spanish in a low tone. "_I have to tell you, the __**last**__ place I expected to find you hiding was in the District Attorney's house."_ He said, and McNorris pretended not to recognize the phrase "_Abogado de Distrito". _

"_You and me both." _She laughed as he took her hand in his.

"_Give me the short version, why do I see hurt in those eyes, Joven?" _He asked and she bit her lip.

It took a while to find a quick, clean way to sum it up for him when they both wanted to talk about everything he needed to know. "_A few days back I was in New Mexico…I met a man there…a good man…a police Lieutenant…"_ Big Dog's eyes grew wide in surprise but he said nothing, knowing by the way she was holding her bottom lip in that she was fighting off tears. "_I wanted to stay with him, papi…my heart was with him but I kept driving after we spent the night…I was going to go back there yesterday…realized I never should have left to begin with…but I found out he had been killed the day after I was with him."_

"_Ay bendito…"_ He breathed in sympathy and shook his head, BadGirl struggled against the urge to hug him and let it all out, tell him everything and hide in his arms forever. She took a deep breath and turned away from him, only to find the stricken faces of her brothers staring back at her, all of them trying not to approach her and say they were sorry. It was tearing at her heart.

"_The D.A. over there? He could be a twin of that man. It is unreal; they could be the same person."_ The pain in her chest was getting too strong and she cleared her throat, forcing her thoughts to change course. "_I saw a man get murdered and they came after me…hard…I wound up at the police station since they put it together and here we are." _

He searched her features from behind those dark shades hearing how quickly she had changed the subject, his face showing his concern for her. "_Little girl, you are in so much pain and you need to let it ease…are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to testify. We leave now; you never have to look back…"_ He offered, part of him hoping for her sake that she would take it.

She stuck out her chin, looking at him with determination in her eyes. "_I'm sure, Chino. Someone needs to be strong enough to help here, no one else will speak and these men have been waiting a long time for the right person to come along. I want to be that one." _

He smiled at her weakly, his eyes saddening at an unspoken memory as he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. "_If it is what you wish we will stand behind you. Listen, I…"_ He sighed and looked around at the expectant faces of the police that were present, narrowing his eyes on them. "_Do you trust these men? What do you know about them?" _He asked and she looked over at them.

"_The one with the sad face and dark eyes is a detective; something troubles him that he does not speak of. He is good man; very honorable…he is from Boston. His partner is a local, ex-military and I would say he's equally trustworthy." _She inclined her head to the uniformed officers. "_The Italiano is still wet behind the ears, not long on the force but he has a good heart…." _

Finally she scowled over at Hechler_. "And __**gordo**__ over there…"_

"God damn it, I **know** that meant **fat**!" Hechler said indignantly and Hector and Javier were instantly dying laughing.

She smiled, her eyes still on him. "_Is a royal pain in the ass…but I can tell he's a good man, he tries hard to help people despite his front that it is a burden. I like him, I trust him." _

"What did she say now?" Hechler demanded and her boys all just pointed at him and cracked up pretending it had been something insulting.

"_And what of D.A.? You trust him enough to lay __with him, but what about with your life?" _Big Dog asked and gave her a knowing smile.

Eyebrows were instantly going up amongst the group of big brother types, all of them exchanging surprised looks and sizing up the blue eyed attorney trying to decide whether or not they would allow it.

Seeing the way they were all staring at him, McNorris got the feeling he'd just had a big target sign drawn on his chest for some reason…

BadGirl's eyes widened in surprise and she laughed as she bumped her shoulder against Big Dog. "_That obvious?"_ She asked and he arched a brow.

"_To me it is, Loca. To me it is_." He said, now eyeing McNorris in the same appraising way as the other members of the crew.

She sighed. "_Well I haven't __**done**__ anything with him yet…but you're right, it's on the agenda_…"

Big Dog shifted in his chair and made a mental note to have a private chat with the _gringo_ before allowing the two another moment alone.

BadGirl smiled over at McNorris as she continued. "_But yes, I do trust him, even if he is fighting his own demons he wants to take this guy down badly. Loyalty to me aside, I have no doubt in his loyalty to the pursuit of this criminal."_ She said.

Across the yard Hechler smiled. "I heard something about 'the devil' and an 'agenda' in there. McNorris she really does have you pegged, doesn't she?" He said and the other officers laughed at McNorris' un-amused look.

"_Then we speak so he can understand our words, it is his home, after all." _Big Dog said and relaxed in the chair as he switched back to English. "McNorris." He called and waited for the blue eyes to meet his gaze. "We need to talk business, is this good place for it?"

McNorris looked around the fences that effectively blocked his yard from prying eyes, knowing that it wouldn't do much for ears. He shook his head and motioned toward the door.

"You boys hang out here and keep an eye out." Big Dog said to the crew and they nodded their agreement. McNorris cast him a discrete appreciative look that he wouldn't have something comparable to a herd of elephants wandering through his house.

They entered the kitchen and BadGirl hopped up onto the counter, smiling at the way McNorris' eyes flashed to her hips when she did.

_He'd never thought about how perfect the height of his kitchen counter was before that moment_…

Big Dog gave her a look of mock disapproval and leaned against the counter beside her, arching a brow at McNorris as he removed his shades and watching the D.A. quickly avert his eyes. He waited for the detectives and officers to enter the kitchen and close the door behind them before speaking.

"I come into the city this morning and I listen to what's on the streets. My BadGirl is in high demand here, _la familia_ lookin for her and paying a lot of money for people to talk…but they no looking here." He distractedly took Alisha's hand in his again, as if showing himself that she was safe for the moment. "They know the parts she live at in Philly; they figure she'll stick to the _barrios_ here since it's more like home for her. The Italianos think they hold sway over the _barrios_, but Loca here…" He smiled over at her. "Has friends in high places. Or low, depending on how you look at it. You see, Angel Louis Rivera Colon…"

McNorris' eyes widened in surprise at the name of one of the heads of the Hispanic crime syndicate that held territory in L.A.

"Has a dear cousin in Philadelphia, one who's closer to him than a brother. Cousin of his caught feelings for this girl many years ago…she no give him the time of day, but he just love her more for it." Big Dog grinned as BadGirl shuddered in disgust.

This cousin, Pedro, weighed _every __**bit**_ of five hundred and eighty pounds.

He was funny as hell; big money, a major player in the city and the one you went to when you were in trouble…disturbingly enough that meant he was always being fawned over and fed by stripper types whenever they visited him. He'd been begging BadGirl to marry him for the past four years, offering her everything from cars to jewelry to trips to the islands….but she'd been delicate in her adamant refusals and it was finally paying off.

"I go to him before I leave Philly and tell him to let his cousin know I'll be in his back yard, no disrespect, that I come on personal business. He say no worries and call Angel, but when he find out it's _BadGirl_ I'm going to find he make it personal for him, too. He tell Angel that someone he cares for is in trouble here and the crew is rolling in to help her. Angel knows _la familia_ is looking for a little snow-bunny…a white girl…and he tell Pedro all that is happening, get us in and connected. Now we got ears all over the city and no one running their mouth. They know money from the Italianos won't buy them safety if they go against Angel." Big Dog said and waited for the questions to start.

"So…where are you all staying?" McNorris asked hopefully and Big Dog laughed, he figured that would be one of the first questions.

"We spread out already, staying all over the city so we know who moves where and when. Now…for the part that is delicate…before I get into it I'm going to say this **once**…"

He held up a finger, taking a second to stare each of the men in the eyes.

"So listen clear. I _only_ keep you up on what is going on because my BadGirl say you good men…but I swear on my _mother_ if you do my _Joven_ dirty, sell her out and get her hurt or hurt her yourselves? No one will _**ever**_ find the body, or bodies, of whoever crossed that line." He looked around the group and found some shock settling into the officers' faces, waiting for it to fade. "We all understand this?" He asked and waited for the men to nod their agreement.

It didn't go unnoticed by McNorris that Alisha had been completely un-phased by those words; she was still swinging her legs back and forth contentedly, holding Big Dog's hand as if he was talking about the weather or sports. Promises of death apparently didn't merit a reaction where she came from.

"Good. What I'm about to say gets out? We _**all**_ die, so keep it in this room…"

Another pause to ensure everyone was on the same page.

"When I come I talk to Angel. He tell me there is trouble in _la familia_ that I won't get into… Angel was able to convince them that he wished to help them find the snow-bunny, told them that if the Hispanics searched for her, kept an eye on the _barrios_…visited the D.A….and eventually found her and took her out…" He gave BadGirl's hand a squeeze as those words left his mouth. "Then it couldn't come back on Guarino. Angel tell them he bring us from Philly so the defense can say it was something unrelated she got into back home that someone had come after her for. The Italianos accepted this offer blindly, they think Angel is trying to earn favor from them and they pull their men back. Ego is a man's worst enemy, and the quickest way to beat his brain.

"When we went to the garage to wait for D.A. we found a few Italianos that hadn't been told and after…a talk with them…" He smiled at the unspoken beat-down that had ensued. "They limped home to their masters and were put back on their leashes. We won't see them around for a while…but I expect as the trial approaches with no sign of her they will force their way back in. The reason I no worry about being seen coming here is they think I come to put pressure on _you_." He pointed at the D.A.

McNorris nodded in understanding, they had _wanted_ to be noticed trailing him home, hence the blasting stereos and entourage of Escalades.

"Now…we can't stay here all the time or this won't work, but we can lock this neighborhood up _tight_. Anyone comes within twenty blocks of here and we will know it, we say to the Italianos we watching for BadGirl to contact you…but it give us a way to watch the Italianos and make sure they no get curious to see for themselves that she no here. We help watch her and keep her safe along with you 5-0, but only a few of us can be here at a time and we have to be hidden. We get dropped off, no cars parking in front of the house in case the Italianos do drive past, it will be one less thing to hide." He sighed and looked over at BadGirl with concern in his eyes again, then back to McNorris. "How soon can we get this done?"

McNorris opened his mouth to speak but Alisha had already started to answer the question, looking into Big Dog's eyes as she spoke. He was nodding in understanding as she explained and both of them seemed to forget for a second that others were in the room…

As well as the fact that they were speaking in English, _not_ Spanish.

"Well, similar to what they would do in a federal case when prosecuting a member of an organized crime ring, the District Attorney can file a motion to expedite the hearing asking the judge to take into consideration the previous…" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes darting over to McNorris, who was now watching her suspiciously.

She laughed nervously and motioned for him to go ahead and speak but it took him a long moment to get himself to stop staring at her in confusion.

_What the hell was __**that**__?_

"Umm…yes, Alisha is correct." _Astoundingly correct_…his eyes kept wandering back to hers trying to figure out what he'd just heard as he continued. "It will be an uphill battle but the judge who has been assigned to the case has seen Guarino walk before, she's gunning for him as much as we are. If I'm lucky it will be a few weeks." He cast Alisha another questioning look but she just shrugged innocently.

"Then we will be seeing a lot of one another." Big Dog said and stood, helping Alisha down from the counter and looking her in the eyes as he switched back to Spanish. "_The crew will be close; you call me if you need anything, okay?" _He waited for her to nod in agreement and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "_You know I don't like leaving you here." _He said with a smile and she grinned up at him.

"_I know, papi. I know. But you're out here now. Los Angeles will just have to fall in line for you the way Philly does."_ She teased.

Big Dog smiled and put his shades back on, heading toward the door and stopping beside McNorris. "Walk with me, _Abogado_." He said and walked outside, leaving David to cast Alisha a frustrated look before grudgingly following the large Puerto Rican man.

The crew smiled seeing that Big Dog had effectively separated McNorris from the others, knowing what was coming now.

A short way down the driveway he stopped and looked over at the D.A., his voice low and severe as he spoke. "I know what's on your mind, _gringo_…and if it wasn't on hers as well this would be a far different conversation between us right now. She's a smart girl, knows what she wants, when she wants it so I'm not gonna say different if you're what she's craving…but know this…" He pointed back toward the house; the extent of his reach was most definitely not lost on David. "That girl in there is my **heart**. I love her like family…been there for her through worse shit than anybody should have to go through…"

McNorris nodded slowly in understanding, judging by the pain in Big Dog's eyes that he was referring to her time in the ICU.

"Now we don't call her BadGirl for nothing, if she wants to play with you she gonna do it, got a bigger appetite for it then most men so I hope you rested up…but if she catches feelings and you hurt her, if she sheds tears for you then we are gonna have a problem. There ain't a man who come here who wouldn't take a bullet or do time for that girl so keep it in your head…as well as the fact that it took _three_ planes to bring all of us from Philly."

David's mouth opened slightly in shock.

"You didn't think _**this**_ was _**all** of us_, did you?" Big Dog asked with an amused smile. "That feeling you got right now? Remember it if you think about making her hurt. BadGirl got more brothers than a penitentiary." He leaned his head back and whistled, the crew all starting down the alleyway instantly. "Take care of her, _Abogado_. Call if you need us…we'll be in touch."

McNorris watched the men heading toward their SUVs, BadGirl darting out the door to hug as many of them goodbye as possible.

Stevens and Fearless walked up beside him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Did we just get 'the talk'?" Fearless asked with a laugh.

McNorris nodded distractedly. "Can someone please tell me what the hell I got myself into?" He asked with wide eyes as he watched the crew piling back into their vehicles.


	16. Criminal

**__**

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 16_**

**_"CRIMINAL"_**

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter was written to the song "Criminal" by Fiona Apple.

I mean come on, lyrics like "I've been a bad, **_bad_** **_girl_**" and "I've come to you cause I need guidance to be true" and "what I need is a good defense" and "what would an angel say? the devil wants to know..." were just **_too_** damned perfect for smut between BadGirl and D.A. McNorris LOL

* * *

The instant they were all back inside the house after the crew had left she made her way to the base of the steps, casting McNorris a 'come hither' look before disappearing up them.

He just couldn't get rid of Stevens, Fearless, Turcotte and _**especially**_ Hechler fast enough.

They'd barely closed the front door and he was racing up the stairs to find her. A smile was spreading across his lips as he pushed the door to his bedroom and found her standing by the window at the far end of the room, wearing a black lace bra and another pair of those black lace boy-short panties.

Judging by the look in her eyes she had a game in mind for him…he couldn't wait to hear what it might be.

"Thank you for seeing me after hours, Mr. McNorris….I've been a _**bad**__ BadGirl_…do you think you can help me?" She asked coyly, her eyes bright with mischief as she began slinking toward him. "I'm in big trouble and could really use some of your legal guidance…" She said as she traced her hands over the footboard of his bed.

McNorris licked his lips as he took off his suit jacket. "_Oohh_…then you're in luck; I've been told I'm the 'head snake in these parts', just the one to come to when you need to get off…the charges against you…" He said with a smirk.

"Mmm…_really_, now?" She purred in intrigue. "And you think you're good enough to get _me_ off?"

He watched the sway of her hips as she slowly made her way across the room to him, his eyes wandering over her entire body. The girl was radiating sex appeal right down to the cherry red polish on her toes. He wanted to taste every inch of her, just start at her lips and spend the rest of the night drinking her in.

"Of this I have _no_ doubt, it's a rough case but I have every confidence that I'll be able to satisfy your needs. Rest assured, you are in _fully_ capable hands." He said as he reached for his tie.

She closed the distance between them quickly, taking his hands away from the tie before he could remove it and looking up into his eyes deeply.

She brought her mouth close to his and whispered softly, her lips brushing over his as she spoke. "I don't know if I should get away with it, though. See I've been _wicked_…I've tormented a good man…put thoughts in his head and left him to starve for my attentions for _hours_ on end…I think I should be _punished_ for all that I've done…"

He couldn't help the way his eyes flashed with excitement at the idea.

"Hmm…_punished_ you say? Well, I don't usually do this for my clients…" His body was coursing with arousal as he unfastened his belt and watched her eyes wander down to his hands expectantly as he did it. "But since you seem like an exceptional case I'd be willing to provide that as well…you just leave it to me and after you feel like you've given enough penance for your actions we'll come up with a strategy for your defense…"

She let out another low purr and looked up at him with those eyes burning with desire. "You would really do that for me?" She asked and he pulled his belt free, backing her toward the wall and smiling.

"Oh, it's the _least_ I can do…." He said as he unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. "Attorney/client privilege and all that…you just tell me everything you've done and I'll make your little indiscretions disappear. That's what I'm here for."

He let out a low moan as he turned her to face the wall, his cock threatening to burst through his pants as she arched her back and stuck her ass out for him. His heart was thundering wildly in his ears, his body trembling in anticipation of the absolute _power trip_ she was giving him with what she was asking him to do to her.

Her hair was flowing over her back and he smiled watching her reach up and unhook her bra, that devilish little smile she gave him over her shoulder as she tossed it to the side. He let his hands wander over her ass cheeks, his eyes closing at the feeling of her warm, taught flesh beneath his palms.

With his breathing quickening he pushed the lace of those boy-short panties upward exposing her ass completely and leaned down, getting in a bite that made her yelp and laugh…and moan as he rolled his tongue over the area he'd just injured.

He stood upright behind her and she put her hands on the wall, trembling as he leaned forward to talk into her ear, his hard-on pressing against her through his pants and showing her just how excited he truly was. "How bad were you?" He growled into her ear and she grinned.

"_Terrible_…" She whispered.

Without warning he had backed away from her, that belt coming down across her ass cheeks with a loud _crack_.

"_FUCK!_" She cried out, her nipples instantly hardened, her mouth hanging open as she shuddered and dug her fingernails into the wall.

McNorris was panting behind her, his hot breath on her bare back adding to her excitement. "What did you do?" He asked and she trembled at the sound of his voice, now strained with arousal behind her.

"I was a _shameless_ tease…" She said with a smile and braced herself.

Again the belt was brought across her flesh and she hissed in that wonderful mix of pain and pleasure.

_Capable hands indeed_…

He growled into her ear and she moaned in response as he bit down on her earlobe. "Tell me the truth now…are you sorry for it?" He asked with a wicked smile on his lips and she waited for him to back away before answering.

"No." She said and her screams almost drowned out the sound of leather connecting with flesh.

"I'd do it again, too. I _enjoyed_ it." She whispered and McNorris was near to cumming as he watched the belt cross those ass cheeks once more.

They kept up their game until her flesh was red and welted, and when he spun her to face him she was amazed by the need twisting his features.

"You are so _good_ at this." She said with a smile and grabbed him by his tie as she walked toward the bed. "Is it time to see what you can do to get me off?" She asked and he nodded, his entire body tensed and begging for release. "Well I can't stand legal talk, baby…you're going to have to _**show**_ me what you can do for me…" She breathed.

Without a word he had her, lifting her up with his hands gripping her ass. He kissed her madly, his lips demanding her to submit to him, his hot tongue taking charge of her mouth as he laid her back on the bed and tore her panties off.

She smiled into their kiss that he couldn't have taken the extra few _seconds_ to slide them down her legs.

She let her hands wander over the hard muscle of his shoulders and back, grabbing his ass and hissing at how utterly _fantastic_ it felt through those slacks.

With a bit of work she managed to get free of his hold enough to remove his tie, take off his shirts, unbutton those pants and slide them down his legs.

The instant she was finished he rolled over onto his back, pulling her along on top of him as he moved up the length of the mattress, his mouth devouring hers relentlessly as he got into the position he was seeking. Now leaning against the headboard, he took his lips from hers and waited for her to look down at him with those heated blue and yellow eyes.

"Stand up for me." He whispered and she smiled, nodding as she climbed from him and stood on the bed. "Bring _that_ right _here_…" He said, curling a finger as his eyes wandered to the freshly shaved mound that he was starving for.

"Ooohh…I _love_ your strategy…" She purred as she walked up the length of him with a leg on either side of his body.

She intentionally waited once she was standing above him, loving the way his head tilted back and tongue darted out expectantly to moisten his lips…the way those blue eyes wandered over her body like it was the only thing that could sustain him.

The second she had lowered her body into the desired position she had to hang on to the top of the headboard for support. He grabbed a hold of her hips and pulled her down to him roughly and she cursed under her breath as his tongue plunged impossibly deep inside of her.

_A man with this much talent in the line of oral sex should not be permitted to do anything else with their time_…

_Hell, he shouldn't be allowed to __**speak**__ for fear he might injure his marvelously gifted tongue doing something __**other**__ than providing the current mind-blowing level of pleasure he was giving her_…she mused to herself amid the chorus of moans escaping her. She'd never look at one of his smiles the same way again.

She could hear herself screaming his name, telling him to _slow down…that she couldn't….that she was __**going to**__…._

She had to hold onto his head as well as the bed-frame as her legs quaked beneath her in orgasm.

Her muscles rendered completely useless for the moment, she slid down the length of his body and found herself laying with her head on his shoulder, coming out of the haze of ecstasy just in time to stop him.

She was straddling his throbbing cock now, her soaked heat pressing against the length of him and he was moving in for the kill…

But she was _nowhere_ _**near**_ ready to end his suffering.

McNorris cried out as she bit down on his chest hard enough to knock him off target and smiled up at him. He glared down at her as she moved her pussy out of reach.

"_Ah ah ah_…let's not be hasty councilor." She teased and he moaned beneath her, his hips lifting from the bed pleadingly…after all of this playing he wanted to be buried inside of something hot and wet…

And he wanted it _**now**_.

She sucked on his nipples, her teeth raking over them as he panted and muttered incoherently… something along the lines of '_going to fuck you senseless'_.

She grinned as she kissed her way down his abs, the taste of his hot flesh like some wonderfully addictive drug. Her breasts slid over his shaft and the sounds that instantly tore from his throat upon the contact caught her full attention.

Her brow arched in intrigue.

"I'm sorry, did you say '_more'_?" She asked with a smile and pressed them together, tightening them around his cock. His hand was in her hair in a heartbeat, pulling back roughly as she began squeezing her breasts together and letting his impossibly swollen shaft slide back and forth between them.

_Hmm_…she thought in amusement…_so he's_ _a breast __**and**__ ass man_…he was in luck, she was well equipped in both departments.

The hand in her hair was tightening its grip now, his moans and pleas becoming frenzied and she stopped, he wasn't getting his release just yet.

Her mouth moved down his lower abs and she thanked him in her mind for all of his obvious time in the gym, he was deliciously well toned. She wrapped her fingers around his cock and he nearly climbed out of the bed.

She smiled wickedly. _This was going to be fun_.

He should have known he was in trouble when she curled up comfortably between his legs, settling in for a good long stay. So he had his power trip with the belt? This was the best part of sex when a lover was vocal…she had no intention of rushing here…she hadn't been exaggerating when she said 'one of the millions of sounds I work out of you'.

For the next hour McNorris could do nothing more than moan, pant, cry out and beg as she lathed over every _inch_ of him, every sensitive area his body possessed was under her control and by the time she decided to take pity on him he looked like a different person. The starved, irrational need for release that was in his face when she stopped torturing him was breathtaking.

"David?" She breathed and he stared at her in the instant before pouncing. "Can you fuck me _**hard?**_" She asked and grinned at the way his body trembled in response to her words.

He forced her back onto the bed aggressively and she sighed in that welcomed release as he slid deep inside of her, stretching her insides to meet the need of his swollen shaft.

She held onto his shoulders as he began fucking her, kissing his jaw and moaning for him to move _faster…harder...deeper_…

He was covered in sweat, bringing his arms above her shoulders and leaving her with full access to his chest. She raked her nails down his back and bit down as she felt him tensing for the finally.

"_Get it baby…come on…don't stop_…." She purred and called out with him as his shaft throbbed and flexed in a maddening rhythm deep within her.

There is **nothing** better than satisfying sex followed by exhausted cuddling.

He pulled her up into his arms and held her close as he struggled to slow his breathing.

Everything was right with the world in that moment.

_The trial, the grief, the worries_….all of it was gone as he kissed her face and drifted off to sleep with her.


	17. A Different 6 and 9

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 17_**

**_"A DIFFERENT 6 & 9"_**

* * *

She'd always been hard-pressed to find a man with an insatiable appetite for sexual contact to match her own…

Apparently she'd just been looking for him on the wrong coastline.

They'd spent the majority of the night doing everything in their power to break the bed frame. After each romp there had been a blissful break for sleep…which would invariably end when one of them would wake with another craving.

Watching his face twist from peaceful rest to agonized pleasure was an image she would not soon forget, and every time he'd wake just as ready to go as the time before.

Likewise he couldn't get enough of her soft, breathy moans that turned to pants of ecstasy as she awoke…

But before long he was staring at the clock in frustration.

**6:00 **

He glared at the glowing red digits and sighed as he turned his attention back to the sleeping sex kitten curled up in his arms. A brow arched at the realization that this seemingly harmless girl might be prove to be more addictive for him than whiskey.

The crawl from the mattress had been almost as difficult as the walk into rehab and he smiled that at least this time instead of _harming_ his body (aside from the occasional claw or bite) his new crutch provided one hell of a workout.

He showered and shaved, all the while rationalizing staying home from work to continue their little play-date…but, alas, he had things to do. There was a meeting scheduled with the judge and defense at 11:00 and he couldn't miss it.

So he left her sleeping, resisting the urge to get just _one more_ kiss in (since he knew for damned sure it wouldn't be that simple if she woke up) dressed and went downstairs to wait for Stevens and Fearless to arrive.

Why did men just _always_ seem to know when another man had spent the night before receiving the wildest sex of their life?

"Good Morning, Detectives." McNorris said as he opened the door.

Both of their expressions had instantly become a frantic attempt to conceal a grin, but evidently neither of them would have made a good poker player. They cast one another knowing smiles the instant McNorris turned his back on them.

"_Indeed_ it is, McNorris…_indeed_ it is." Fearless said, alternating snapping his fingers and clapping his hands to an unheard melody _("Bump and Grind", in case you were curious)_ while trying not to laugh. He couldn't recall ever seeing the DDA quite so relaxed and looked around the house with an amused smirk as he entered, half expecting the place to be ransacked.

"So…Alisha is…still asleep?" Stevens asked after a moment and tried his best not to show any amusement as McNorris approached with his briefcase in hand getting ready to walk out the door.

"_Hmm_? Oh. Yeah…" He answered distractedly as he looked down at his watch. "She'll be sleeping in."

He looked up as a sound erupted from Fearless' throat that sounded strangely similar to a choked off burst of laughter, and noting the strained features of both detectives he eyed them suspiciously. "_What_?" He asked and they both shook their heads.

"Nothing…" Stevens answered and McNorris tilted his head back, his eyes passing between the two.

"_Right_. Well I gotta get going. Call me if you need anything." He said and had to force himself to leave for the second morning in a row.

* * *

Alisha purred and stretched, opening her eyes slowly and looking up at the bright morning sun that was filtering in through the curtains. Her hand went to the bed behind her and she sighed finding it empty.

_She was usually the one who left without saying goodbye_…

"Looking for me?" She heard and rolled over, smiling when she saw McNorris walking into the room all decked out in one of those tailored-to-perfection suits. He closed the bedroom door behind him and leaned against it, letting his eyes wander over the soft appearance of her features in that moment.

"_Mmm_…hey…" She breathed and patted the bed beside her.

He arched that sexy brow of his and smiled. "_Oooh_…I don't know if that's such a good idea. I've got an appointment to get to and if I lay down in that bed with you I'm going to miss it for sure."

Alisha sat up slowly, the sheet wrapped around her like a toga. Apparently she rolled in her sleep when no one was beside her. She looked down at the clock and then back at him in confusion.

**9:00 **

"Don't you have to be at work?" She asked before a yawn snuck up on her and he bit his lip watching her stretch and lay back on the pillows again, willing his legs to stay put and _**not**_ rush over to her side.

"Well I had a meeting scheduled first thing this morning but it was cancelled…or at least that's what I told them when I called the office." He said with a grin and she laughed.

"Playing _**hooky**_, McNorris? _Tisk-tisk_…Am I corrupting the Deputy District Attorney?" She teased, her hand once again patting the bed beside her in invitation.

"You keep doing that and I'll never get anything done for the case today." He said as he waggled a finger at her and laughed.

"_Mmm_…but can't you just bring your laptop to bed? I'll let you work…I _pwomise_…I can amuse myself without your hands…" She purred as she crawled across the mattress and his knees were locking up to resist the urge to close the distance between them. "And I'll even let you wear that suit...for a while..." She said with a wink.

McNorris swallowed hard, his mouth as parched for her as it had been for Jameson for so long. He shook his head in an attempt to jumpstart his brain, clearing his throat and hoping his voice would cooperate with him long enough to speak. "As persuasive an argument as that may be, it's not why I came back here…or why I decided to play hooky." He said and laughed as her shoulders slouched in disappointment.

She had just begun to cross her arms over her chest and pout when she spotted the large bag hanging from his hand behind his back.

"What's that?" She asked as she pointed at it, her brows drawn together curiously.

"This…" He said, cautiously crossing the room to the TV and giving the bed wide berth lest she decide to pounce, "is something I was going to buy for you yesterday before your _extremely_ large Puerto Rican friends commandeered my vehicle."

BadGirl's expression passed through a broad spectrum of emotion in the blink of an eye.

Firstly, surprise. _He __**bought**__ her something?_

Secondly, indignation. _What was this? A 'your money is on the dresser' moment? Did he think he __**needed**__ to spend money on her?_

Thirdly, wounded pride. _She didn't need a __**man**__ to buy her anything. She had her **own** money. She wasn't looking for a sugar daddy. How presumptuous of him to assume…_

Fourthly, regret. _Why did she always jump to the defensive? So he had done something nice for her. Yet here she was, ready to flip out on him for it._

And finally, as he pulled the box from the bag, tears of appreciation formed in her eyes.

"It's a cassette to DVD recorder." He said as he opened the box and began fishing out the wires. "I figured since you're going to be cooped up in here all day it would give you time to transfer that tape on to something you'd be able to watch. When you were…" He trailed off, then flashed her one of those smiles that made her heart skip a beat. "Alright, let's not dance around it…_**DRUNK**_ the other night…"

She laughed and smiled at him warmly and he couldn't help but grin in return.

"You said that my 'VCR wasn't working' and I realized I _seriously_ needed to go shopping…I mean, come on…who the hell still owns a VCR? Christ, if I had known that thing was still in here I would have tossed it out by now. _In_ _fact,_ I fully intend on _hiding_ it when I take it out to the trash so no one will see it." He said.

Watching her face light up was well worth the fact that he'd so unexpectedly detoured on the way to work in order to buy it.

It hadn't occurred to him until after he'd entered the store that he really didn't buy _**anything**_ anymore. Aside from take-out and clothing his bank account was pretty much just growing for no reason. He paid his bills, went to work, came home and went back to work again.

It felt surprisingly good to be out buying something for someone else after such a long time.

And so yeah, maybe he'd gotten a little _too much_ pleasure out of it…

"Grabbed this, too." He said and pulled out a box with the cell phone he'd just had activated for her, distracting himself with trying to open it. "I figured it would give...us...a way of contacting you without anyone tracing it…since we can't trust my _house_ phone line by now." He said and rolled his eyes knowing they'd likely tapped it already. "And they're probably already keeping an eye on calls to and from your cell so…" He shrugged and looked up in time to see her sliding down onto the floor beside him still wrapped up in his sheet. She was grinning ear to ear and he laughed. "_What_?" He said, wondering why everyone seemed to be getting such a kick out of him that morning.

"You're just _**so**_ freaking cute, you know that?" She asked and draped her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him.

His blood was instantly heating in his veins as she pulled herself into his lap, his eyes rolling closed at the pleasure caused by her soft little moans against his mouth.

"_Cute_, huh?" He laughed breathlessly when she ended the kiss and pressed her forehead to his, her little fingers wandering over the back of his neck at his hairline. The sensation of it made his eyelids heavy and breathing quicken. She seemed to _love_ that spot...among a million others.

"_Adorable_." She said with a smile.

"I gotta be honest...that's not exactly the description a man actively seeks out for himself...but I'll take it, seeing as this is how you react to it." He teased and found himself _really_, **_seriously_** **NOT **wanting to go to work for the first time in longer than he could recall.


	18. The Devil is in the Defense?

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 18_**

**_"THE DEVIL IS IN THE DE...FENSE?"_**

* * *

The meeting with the judge and the defense?

Yeah...that _probably_ could have gone better.

Guarino wasn't pulling any punches with his selection of an attorney and the minute McNorris pulled the doors to Judge Faure's office he knew this was going to be a cut throat trial.

The man seated in front of the desk didn't need to turn around for David to recognize him. He'd know that slicked back black hair any day…

"_Sabatini_." David said with a snide smile, his lip curling in distaste for the defense attorney in the 50 thousand dollar Kiton suit who was standing to greet him. "Didn't know you were back in the states. What happened? Got tired of defending mob bosses out in the old country...or is it difficult to stay in business when your employers are constantly getting whacked?"

Sabatini let out a soft laugh and inclined his head in feigned respect. They shared the obligatory handshake, neither man's polite smile reaching the disdain in their eyes.

"McNorris. I returned the instant my client informed me of this case of mistaken identity, but enough about that – look at you! I am glad to see you so well. I have to tell you I commend you for overcoming your addiction; it takes a _strong_ man to battle alcoholism…especially without the support of their spouse. I was sorry to hear about you and Marian." Sabatini said, the sympathy of his features belying the amusement in his eyes.

His features were every bit as sharp and cruel as David recalled, there was a reason the deepest pockets paid Sabatini to get them out of trouble. The man was as close to employing the devil as you were going to get.

"Gentlemen, if we're done posturing I'd like to get on with this." Judge Faure said with a sigh and motioned for them to sit.

It was another long moment of glaring before they complied.

They covered the basics, Sabatini wasted no time requesting that Guarino be released on bail, promising that his client would turn over his passports and follow the court's instructions, insisting that he posed no flight risk, that he was simply a 'business man with a wife and children, an upstanding, taxpaying member of the community with strong ties to his church', etc.

McNorris had very promptly stopped that sorry attempt in its tracks, pointing out that this 'upstanding, taxpaying member of the community' just so happened to be under ongoing federal investigation for racketeering , that he'd been linked to over _fourteen_ cases in the past ten years in which witnesses had mysteriously disappeared, suffered freak accidents or recanted their statements before trial.

David requested that in an effort to ensure the safety of _this_ witness Guarino not only be **_denied_** bail, but his contacts via phone and visitation at the prison be monitored and recorded to prevent an order from being handed down to intimidate or harm her.

Sabatini had just started to launch into a tirade when Judge Faure held up a disinterested hand and asked whether spending so much time under the hot sun of Italy had fried his brains.

Sabatini's request was denied.

McNorris' request was granted.

It was score one for the prosecution.

David motioned that, in light of the track record of witness tampering, "**_alleged_** witness tampering, _excuse_ _me_," he added with a smirk as Sabatini opened his mouth to interrupt, the trial be expedited.

After handing over a list of the names and circumstances surrounding the failure of each prior witness to retain their memory or survive long enough to testify against Guarino the judge had agreed and the preliminary hearing was set for the following week.

Judge Faure made it a point to mention that the witness would **_not_** be required to attend the prelim., understanding the unspoken level of hiding she was in.

_But speaking of witnesses_…

The first time her name fell from Sabatini's lips McNorris was shocked by the impact it had on him.

"The defense has no objection to speeding the process along, after all this…" Sabatini waived his hand distractedly and smirked as he sorted through a mental list of the other words he'd like to use to describe her.

McNorris bit his lip.

Sabatini smiled cruelly as he continued. "_Witness_…Ms. Alisha XXXXXX, is of little consequence. Her testimony won't hold any water with a jury given her character, or should I say, _lack there of_. I'd say from her prior run-ins with the law, despite the lack of convictions, that the jury will be intelligent enough to see her for the street trash she is. What ghetto did you drag this girl out of, anyway, McNorris?" Sabatini asked as he cast David a disgusted sideways glance.

McNorris ground his teeth together to keep a rebuke from pouring from his mouth as those blue eyes flashed angrily. That old familiar rage was instantly boiling up inside; it had been a long time since he'd found himself clenching his fists to the point of physical pain trying to keep control.

And it was at this exact moment that he realized, on some level, he was royally fucked.

He'd gotten too close, these statements were to be expected from the defense with regards to a witness…but they were _pissing…him…**off**_.

He was taking them personally; his knee-jerk reaction was to fire back and that was a serious problem. It was a weakness, blood in the water that Sabatini could smell it a mile away.

The meeting was less than pleasant after that.

By the time he pulled into his driveway he was mentally exhausted. He sat in his car for a moment running the case through his mind and growing steadily more stressed. There was too much to do and too little time.

The forensics team was turning up very little from their searches for him to work with, aside from the tread of the tires that had left marks at the scene matching one of _several_ vehicles owned by Guarino, but that could be easily chalked up to coincidence. He had Stevens and Fearless, the two detectives who were most likely to come up with something to link Guarino to the murder, currently tied up keeping an eye on Alisha.

_Alisha_…

He rubbed his face roughly. Her testimony was bound to be the only ammunition he'd have in trial. He was walking into that war of a courtroom with a single round, rolling the dice on her and he knew it, hinging this entire case on her ability to follow through with this and not break under the phenomenal amount of pressure Sabatini was certain to apply. The thought of just what would come out of his mouth in an attempt to get her temper flaring made McNorris' stomach turn.

_He'd bring up the attack she'd survived…the rape and imprisonment…he'd make it seem trivial somehow…press all the right buttons to get her blood boiling…_

And how did McNorris know that?

Because it's exactly what **_he_** would do if **_he_** were baiting her for a reaction in a trial.

But it would be fondling the trigger of a much larger gun than Sabatini was likely to realize.

He smiled at first – then cursed under his breath – at the mental image of her _leaping_ out of her chair in the middle of trial without warning, climbing _over_ the partition, beating the living _hell_ out of the smug Italian bastard, breaking that sharp nose and shattering that cruel smile before the bailiff could so much as blink. That suit was bound to look a lot less impressive by the time she finished with him.

The fact that it was a very real possibility took all of the amusement out of it for him…well…_almost_ all of it.

In all honesty if Sabatini managed to light that extremely short fuse of hers it would only be a matter of time before she'd lash out, and while Guarino would walk away unscathed David would then be forced to stand by as his_ own office_ handled the charges brought against Alisha for assault.

Guarino would line whatever pockets necessary to put her away for a good long time…and a few more pockets to ensure she didn't survive the first week.

Every one of these considerations was painting a dismal portrait of the potential outcome and a splitting headache was settling in now behind his eyes.

With a sigh he climbed from his car and waived to his neighbor distractedly, grabbing his mail and walking to the front door lost in thought.

The pleasant aroma of something cooking greeted him and caught him by surprise…as well as the smiling faces of Javier and Angel in his kitchen.

"D.D.A. How ju doin?" Widow called over his shoulder as he continued frying some strange looking concoction. "They all downstairs in jur basement."

McNorris stared at the men in his kitchen, the corner of his mouth turning in amusement despite his stress.

"Comin up behind ya." He heard and turned in time to see Angel cutting around him toward the others.

"Umm…what happened to 'only a few' of you?" McNorris asked with a smile as he sat his briefcase and the mail on the table.

Javier laughed. "BadGirl say you got no food and she **_hun-_gry**."

"Fair enough. What in God's name is that?" He asked as he approached and peered down into the frying pan at what could have started out as bananas.

"_Plantainos_…ju'll love'em, trust me. And we got _pasteles_ and rice and beans. Hey…maybe dey'll put some meat on those bones." Widow said with a grin as he pointed over at David with the spatula and the others laughed.

McNorris shook his head and took off his coat, supposing by their standards he must be underweight. "Why are 'they all downstairs' in my basement?" He asked.

"Killin time, but ju gotta see it for jurself." Angel said and the men exchanged grins before ushering him to the stairs.

He got most of the way down them before he stopped mid-step with his jaw dropped open.

"_Yeah!_ Get him girl!" Big Dog cheered as the others clapped and laughed.

And where, you might ask, was McNorris' star witness?

She would be the one currently sparring with Hector, a man towering over her like a Goliath, and _winning_.

BadGirl leapt at him and he fought to get free for a moment before she'd managed to sweep his legs and take him to the ground with a resounding thud.

"_Oooohhh!!"_ The guys were cheering and McNorris had to force himself to blink and look around at the new faces among the spectators. Fearless and Turcotte were talking and laughing with them, pointing at the tussle as Hechler, despite himself, watched in awe.

She clambered over Hector, wrestling him down and pinning him with his arms bent upward behind his back despite his best efforts to get free.

"Christ, she could join the LAPD!" Stevens laughed from his seat beside Big Dog. "Hey, Hechler – after Turcotte's done training you're looking at your new partner!"

Hechler shot him a look that clearly said, 'bite your tongue'.

"Come on, you can do better than that." Alisha teased Hector as she caught her breath and wiped her sweat soaked hair from her face, sitting atop of him like Queen of the Hill.

Hector groaned in exhaustion with his cheek pressing into the carpet and looked up at the stairs. "_Heeyyy_, McNorris! Glad you're home, gringo. You think you could help a brother out?" He whined.

Alisha looked up at him and grinned, giving him a wink as a chorus of "Hola" and "S'up" went around the basement to David.

"You got yourself into that position; don't think I'll be dumb enough to risk one of those fists catching my jaw for a second time." David said with a laugh.

Big Dog gave BadGirl's shoulder a playful shove. "Ju _snuck_ D.D.A. in da _mouth_?" He asked, grinning as David nodded that it was true.

"Oh he earned it; I just had to let him know who he was dealing with." She laughed as she climbed off of Hector and helped him up.

"So what exactly possessed you to spar with her?" McNorris asked Hector as he climbed to his feet.

"It was my turn." He said with a scowl and the others laughed at him.

"Your…turn?" McNorris asked, eyeing Alisha skeptically.

She cleared her throat and looked away guiltily.

"F'reals, if she don't get to fight at least once a week she gets all antsy and winds up in trouble. We been fighting this chick and **_losing_** for the past five years." An unfamiliar face explained. He was a younger guy - with a softer, higher voice; tall and slim, likely a few years junior to BadGirl and decked out in an oversized 76ers jersey. He laughed when McNorris pointed at him with his brows furrowed as if to ask who he was. "I'm Chris, by the way. You be the blue eyes that's curling BadGirl's toes, huh?" He said with a grin.

McNorris' brow arched as the room froze in place.

The detectives and officers were struggling to hide their amusement, Big Dog's jaw was flexing rhythmically and the big brother types were suddenly shifting in their seats…but the man speaking wasn't a big brother type. This was a _little_ brother type.

BadGirl laughed, chiding him in Spanish before decking him in the arm.

"_Ay!_ Not so hard!" He sucked in air between his teeth, rubbing his bicep as he scowled. "So _violent_…" He whined before grinning and BadGirl gave him a shove.

There was a baritone voice singing reggaeton upstairs now and the men started to stand.

"Come on, dat means it's grub time – Widow gets all bitchy if we don't eat while it's hot." Javier joked and with that the group started up the steps.

As everyone wandered into the dining room BadGirl took her chance.

"I'm gonna run up and get changed." She called, waiting to see if it would get any reaction. The group gave her distracted waives and mutters as they took their seats, far more interested in the meal before them. She grinned, waiting for those blue eyes to meet hers before motioning for him to follow.

David sighed and, after making sure that no one was paying him any attention, bolted up the stairs after her.


	19. Transfixed

**Rated: NC-17**

* * *

**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 19_**

**_"TRANSFIXED"_**

* * *

He barely got the door closed behind them before she was pushing him back against it, kissing him deeply and unbuttoning his shirt. She wanted another round, had spent all day looking forward to it…

_Thinking about those sounds he made when fighting to keep control…and the ones after he'd lost that battle…the way his muscles would twitch…the way those strong hands felt across her bare back…_

But something wasn't right here.

Something was…_different_ tonight…

There was something in the way his shoulders slouched, the softness of his kiss, the way he was leaning into her touch that made her pause in her assault and drape her arms over his shoulders.

"_Welcome back, lover_." She whispered and he smiled, his eyes still closed as her fingertips caressed the back of his neck at his hairline.

She bit her bottom lip as she studied his features.

He was _thinking_ about something, she could see the wheels turning behind those eyelids. He was enjoying the comfort of her touches, drinking them in…but at the same time he was a million miles away from her, still working something out in his mind.

_Taking the case home with him again_…she snorted in her mind that she'd called that issue ahead of time…but this was her case, too. Here she was, sparring in the comfort of his home while he was out there fighting the legal battle…and wow did she suddenly feel useless.

She opened her mouth to speak only to shut it again _very_ quickly.

The phrase, '_rough day at work?_' was threatening to fall from her lips…

Oh but she couldn't stomach it, couldn't allow herself to sound so utterly…_domesticated_.

They weren't playing house here and she sure as _hell_ wasn't wifey.

She sighed and chewed the inside of her cheek as she traced his jaw line with her fingers, brushing her thumb over that beautiful bottom lip before kissing it gently.

He moaned softly against her mouth and she smiled, deciding to take pity on him.

So her devastatingly handsome, unwaveringly ambitious DDA playmate was _stressed_ _out, _and yeah,speaking to him in a comforting manner felt like a weakness…getting too close…but she could be soft in other fashions, ways that wouldn't feel like she was doing the unthinkable and letting her guard down.

"Come here…" She whispered and watched his eyelids open slowly, smiling at him as she pulled him along toward a chair in the corner by his hand.

He sat down heavily, draping his arms over those of the chair and looking up at her curiously…but he was rather markedly neither fighting _nor_ asking any questions. Alisha grinned.

McNorris watched her lick her lips in the way she did when that wicked little mind of hers had something in store for him and smiled up at her, letting his head rest back on the chair as she climbed up on top of him.

She straddled him gently; staring down deeply into his eyes …catching herself lifting his heavy hand to her mouth and kissing his palm…the familiarity of that action breaking her heart on some level…_but this wasn't the time for that memory_…

She brought her hands to the sides of his face and slowly leaned down to kiss his lips, the staggering intensity of the contact causing his eyes to drift shut.

It wasn't hot or hungry, starved or savage…

It was _delicate_…and _sweet_…a gesture that surprised him with its tenderness.

McNorris sighed as his hands wandered over her back, his brows drawing together as she brushed her lips across his. He noted the softness of her form beneath his fingers, marveling at the way she was able to shift back and forth so seamlessly. Even her _muscles_ felt as if they took part in the change. The image of her gentle face a few nights earlier came to mind, the way he'd been floored by her utter _femininity_ in that moment…her _vulnerability_ clad in his very own shirt…and how quickly she had switched back to a persona of unquestionable strength upon waking.

Now here she was in his lap, her touches stirring in him the undeniable need to be just as tender in turn. He couldn't remember the last time it had felt like this, pushed the words from his mind for what this was as opposed to simply sex.

He slid his hands beneath her shirt, letting his fingertips trace up her spine before slipping her shirt off over her head.

She smiled down at him as he leaned forward and allowed her to free him from his shirt, sighing as he let his mouth wander along her collarbone, his hands settling into the curves of her sides like marvelous little handles, his thumbs brushing back and forth lightly across the warm flesh of her stomach...

She closed her eyes and held his head to her, drunk off of something instead of alcohol for a change…_when __**was**__ the last time she drank?_...

McNorris looked up at her as her eyes slowly opened again, their mouths inches apart as they each studied the affection in the other's blue eyes, trying to place the new look behind them that hadn't been there before.

He smiled as he cupped her face in his hands, the way she tilted her head to the side so innocently in response…the way her fingertips traced the backs of his hands as he did it. He kissed her gently, letting their lips press together so softly that both of them were maddened by the desire for more pressure, the longing it stirred in them was like a drug, dizzying…_disorienting_…until the only thing that mattered was the kiss.

She sighed as her breasts pressed against his warm chest, the shared arousal that was becoming apparent between her thighs. Sounds were coming from his throat that made her smile against his lips, something akin to a _purr_…

He brought his hands down over her bare shoulders, the touch making her moan softly before he had wrapped those warm arms around her and slowly…protectively…drawn her closer to him. His fingertips beneath the waist of her pants, drawing circles there, sent ripples of pleasure through her entire body.

She had never in her life felt so content in a kiss. Her body was pleading for more, but at the same time…not.

McNorris was feeding her back just as much comfort as she was providing, it was…_unexpected_…and not necessarily a pleasant surprise...

He stood slowly, taking her with him as they each smiled against the other's mouth at their shared struggle to maintain the contact.

He laughed softly as he pulled away, watching her dreamily try to follow his mouth before he began placing a trail of kisses down her throat…her sternum…her belly…unfastening her pants and sliding them to the floor. She smiled down at him as she stepped out of them, those blue eyes smoky with lust looking up at her before he was kissing his way back up her body to her face.

She sighed as he kissed her mouth, tracing his tongue across her bottom lip until she submitted and let him in. It was difficult to stand as she freed his belt and allowed his pants to slide to the floor, the restrained passion of his kiss so beautiful it stole her breath.

He was laying her back on the bed now, holding himself above and away from her…_despite parts of both of them pleading desperately to be united…_kissing her teasingly, tortuously…

She traced her hands over the tensed muscles of his back, letting her fingers just barely brush over his flesh, fighting back the urge to pull him down to her…

And he was everywhere. She could taste him, smell him, _breathe_ him…felt so utterly connected to him that it frightened her.

_Perhaps she would have been better off asking how his day was…_

_She hadn't expected_…

And she was easing the tension of his bustling mind; her soft sighs and gentle touches dissolving his stress, chasing away his concerns. He wanted to stay there forever feeding off of those sensations, caught himself feeling something deep in the pit of his stomach in that moment…

S_omething that shouldn't be there…_

_But it was simply lust…it had to be…_

And he gave in to the pleading of his body for a deeper connection to the silken form beneath him, hoping to put an end to the frustrating emotion, sinking into that tight, moist heat…

Only to find that it made him want to savor the moment all the more.

She moaned and pressed her mouth to his, their kiss deepening as they each closed their eyes tightly and fought to stay in control, to ignore the level of joining that was going on beyond that of their bodies. She silently cursed the tear she felt stream down her temple.

_Should have just risked sounding domesticated…she was in way over her head_…

They were both shaking now, trembling uncontrollably as they wrapped their arms around each other, breathing in fast bursts and struggling not to call out in pleasure.

She opened her eyes slowly, finding him staring down at her with…_uh oh_…in his eyes…knew it was plain to see in hers as well…and found that she couldn't look away from him as they began moving together.

And so they each stared into the face of their lover.

_Transfixed_…

Each of them was having an emotional crisis of denial in the back of their mind but it didn't matter, couldn't shake what was happening.

She muffled a sob of ecstasy and gripped his shoulders as he delved deeper still inside of her with each pass, watching him watching her…feeling more moisture on her temples as she studied his features twisted in agonized pleasure, the two moving together in that slow and steady rhythm.

_Beautiful_…

God, it had never been like this before and she hated to admit that…

This wasn't _sex_…for the love of God, what had she _done_?

But it was too late to turn back now…

He could read it in her face, feel it in his chest, in the way his breathing strained just hearing her whisper, "_David_…"

This wasn't in the plan at all…but here it was…and he couldn't deny the effect staring into her eyes was having on him.

_So close now_…

They held one another a little tighter, their muscles tensing as they approached the edge to the soundtrack of their labored breaths and muffled moans, still unable to bear looking away from that useless, _pointless_ emotion that was coming to a climax in sync with their bodies.

But it was so powerful to behold, so honest and pure in its existence, so undeniably **real**. It offered no explanation for its unannounced arrival, took no account of whether it was welcome, it simply **was**.

She let out a low, soft moan…feeling his fingers intertwine with hers as her body quaked, slipping into euphoria under the gaze of those crystal blue eyes and holding onto his hands as if they were life itself…

And when she reached her peak, thinking she could endure no more, he was there, his panting sobs of her name as he stared her straight in the eyes sending her into another wave of ecstasy.

She loved the way his jaw clenched, his eyes threatening to close of their own accord as he throbbed so deep inside of her, both of them finding an indescribably satisfying release that had been waiting for them there…

Neither of them spoke as he lay beside her on the bed and drew her close, wrapping his arm around her as she rested her cheek against his chest.

What good would words do?

They were each lost in thought.

He didn't have _time_ for this.

She wasn't _ready_ for this.

It was an unnecessary and uncalled for distraction from the matters at hand…

He pressed his lips to her forehead and she held him a little tighter, nuzzling against him and feeling an odd sense of…_what __**the**_…_was it_ _**security**__?..._in his arms. Each of them was idly seeking out comfort in the wake of the inner workings of their turbulent minds, they both failed to notice that doing so was a complete contradiction of their thoughts.

They had been laying there for at least a half hour when McNorris' cell phone rang. He sighed and reached over the edge of the bed to retrieve it from his pants, shaking his head when he saw that it was Stevens calling from downstairs.

"Yeah." McNorris answered distractedly as he lay back on the bed, wrapping his arm around Alisha as she curled up against his side.

"We're all gonna get going. Hector says to tell BadGirl he made sure the guys saved her some food." Stevens said with his smile evident in his voice as a chorus of Spanish catcalls filtered from the background mixed with phrases such as, 'damn – couldn't even wait till after dinner!'

McNorris shook his head. "Great. Talk to you tomorrow." He said, snapping the phone shut and letting it fall to the floor before rolling back over on his side.

Alisha smiled, choosing to use this as an opportunity to change the subject from what had just happened between them. "The guys are gonna have a field day with this." She laughed.

"Yeah, well…let'em." McNorris said and kissed her lips deeply, letting his hand run through her hair. "You know…" He started as he gazed down into those damnable eyes of hers but trailed off, realizing he didn't know what to say here.

An awkward silence settled over them for a moment before, once again, the phone was ringing.

"What the hell does he want **now**?" McNorris groaned as he was forced to leave the embrace for a second time…but his brows drew together in dread as he saw the number on the screen. "Shit." He breathed, sitting up and answering the phone. "McNorris here."

Alisha cocked her head to the side hearing the change in his tone, seeing the sudden rigidity in his muscles.

"What? They can't do that! What freaking judge did they dig up this late to sign…uh huh…well it won't hold, they're just going through the motions. I knew that bastard was gonna pull this…right…"

And he was standing up now, pulling on his pants as Alisha sat up and sighed.

"Okay…so did you already call -?...You did…and did they -?…Right….okay…"

She shook her head and climbed out of the bed, finding the cell phone McNorris had given her and dialing her Papi, speaking to him quietly in Spanish. "_Hey…DDA has to go to his office…no, I don't know for how long…you want I should call the po-po back or you want the boys to watch the place? Got it. Right…see you soon." _

She turned back to find him nearly completely dressed again with his back to her and shook her head as she crossed the room, helping him with his tie distractedly as her mind raced.

"I'll be there as fast as I can." He said and snapped his phone shut, sighing at the smirk on her face. "I gotta…" He began, pointing over his shoulder and she nodded.

"I know." She laughed. "Big Dog and a few of the guys are right up the street, they'll be here by the time you get to your car."

He opened his mouth to speak, but still didn't know what to say.

'_Thanks for the stress relief'? _

_Could he actually joke around about this? No, because that's not what it was and they both knew it. Besides, did he really want to run the risk of pissing her off by downplaying it? _

'_We'll discuss how to deal with the fact that we're unwillingly falling in love here when I get back'? _

_That'd be the brutal honesty of it, not an honesty he wanted to voice, however. _

"You'd better get going." She said with a knowing smile and he sighed, nodding and kissing her a little longer than was necessary…

Then realizing halfway down the stairs that he'd just given her a kiss goodbye as if they were a couple or something…

_Damn it._


	20. Legally Binding

**Rated: NC-17**

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**_ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 3, PART 20_**

**_"LEGALLY BINDING"_**

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

I posted pics for the characters of Big Dog, Hector and Javier on my Live Journal entry for this chapter if you'd like a visual for them.

* * *

She sat in the kitchen with Big Dog, Hector and Javier feeling as safe as anyone could ever hope to feel.

Of her family these were the three largest and most protective of her and for some reason…some totally _troublesome_ reason…she wasn't feeling as strong as she normally did.

_Damn him._

She knew better, should have never let that blue eyed fox into her heart, and yet there he was, moving right in like he owned the place…the bugger had even drafted a legally binding lease agreement naming him as the sole resident.

She picked at her food and sighed…

Great, now there would be _feelings_ involved…she cringed inwardly at the idea. He'd work his way right in there and she'd be forced to open up to him.

But she didn't _**want**_ to open up.

There were things better left bricked up tightly and repressed forever and ever and always, no sessions with a shrink to talk about her emotions, no man asking her if she was 'alright' and expecting her to want to talk it out.

"_Loca_? What's wrong, _Joven_?" Big Dog asked and smiled as she jumped a little at the sound of his voice, she'd been so lost in thought that hearing him had snapped her back from it.

"Hmm?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"Ju got something on jur mind – we can talk about it." He tried with a smile, but he already knew her rule about opening up and nodded when she rolled her eyes…if she wanted to talk she would…if not she would just do what she did best, wall it up inside.

"Ju catchin feelings, babygirl." Hector said as he popped a _plantaino_ in his mouth and she glared over at him. He shook his head and threw his hands up in the air. "**What**? How come dat's a **bad** thing? _Aye dios mio_, girl – ju **allowed** to catch feelings for the _gringo_. He a funny cat, good guy far as I can see…and hey - if he does you dirty ju know I kick him in da troat for ju." He said sincerely before taking another bite.

BadGirl laughed and nodded, knowing the truth to that statement.

Javier sucked his teeth in frustration and smacked the back of Hector's head. "She no _want_ to catch feelings, _vato_, ain't you been payin attention?"

Hector turned and pointed at him in warning, "Ju touch me again like dat I'ma bust you upside jur head till you get some sense. And yeah I been payin attention, but _**dayum**_, babygirl need to settle down **some** **time**. Look at dis neighborhood. Dis a good place for a little snow-bunny to live a life witout drive-bys…witout gang shit and brawlin. He good for her." Hector nodded to himself that these were all valid points. "Yeah – I got my vote on da _Abogado_. And babygirl, ju too smart for what ju doin wit jur life anyway…ju better than…"

Her eyebrow arched and Big Dog cleared his throat, telling Hector not to start that up again. She didn't want to **talk** about it. Bottom line.

Hector rolled his eyes and went back to his second dinner of the evening, grumbling under his breath that no one ever listened to the handsome one.

BadGirl laughed and stood to scrape the remaining uneaten food from her plate, only to have Hector snatch it and slide it onto his own. She smiled, leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I know you're looking out for me, Hector…but this is how it is and how it's gotta be." He scowled up at her and she laughed. "_Te __**amo**__, hermano_." She said in a little voice, hugging him from behind as he sat at the table and barely having to bend to do so.

Hector struggled to maintain his scowl for a few seconds before finally giving in and grinning. "I love ju, too, little sis." He said and closed his eyes as he held her hand on his shoulder, reaching up with his other hand and tussling her hair. "Even doe ju about as stubborn as a damn mule."

She cracked up and wriggled free, walking to the sink and washing her dish before looking over at the clock. It was almost midnight and no sign of McNorris yet.

"Bout dat time." Big Dog said and she nodded. He could see that she wanted to be alone and was giving her an out with saying it was time to go to sleep. "_Que descanses bien, Loca_."

She smiled and hugged him goodnight. "I'm gonna try like hell. You boys get some rest, too. Been a long few days."

"True, not like we saw a murder and was shot at or nothing, but still long." Javier joked and she laughed before giving him a hug, waiving to them all and wandering up the stairs.

She shut the bedroom door behind herself and exhaled slowly.

_Too much_…_too much going on in her head that she didn't want to think about_…

She hated this. Things used to be simple, she remembered simple. She'd spent years perfecting the monotony of her daily life. Fix cars, go home, hang with the boys, get drunk, pass out, wake up and do it all over again. Go to the occasional bar and start a fist fight with whatever asshole decided to overstep his boundaries…it was a good life. An emotionless, predictable, _**blissful**_ life.

Now here she was, feeling...what the hell? _Lonely_? Oh Christ, what was _wrong_ with her?

Her eyes wandered to that box beside the TV for the twentieth time that day.

_Shit_.

She averted her eyes from it, rationalizing putting it off another few days…

But she needed to do it. Hell – most of her _**wanted**_ to do it…the problem was she didn't know what effect it was going to have on her.

Emotions were high enough as it was; could she really face Esteridge right then?

_Esteridge_…

A pain sliced through to her heart with the mere thought of his name and she stuck out her chin, trying to be strong despite the agony.

_Screw it. Has to be done eventually or I'll never forgive myself_…she thought bitterly.

Once everything was in place, the tape rewound to the beginning and making that crucial sound advising her that it was go time she found herself standing there, remote in hand, trembling fingers hovering over the play button and praying for the courage to do this.

It was going to _**hurt**_.

She knew that. It was inescapable.

But was she willing to allow herself to run from emotional anguish like always? To block out the memory of a good man she had fallen so hopelessly for just to save herself some tears?

_**No**_.

God this was a bad time though. She ran her hand over her face roughly; she was already so confused about the whole McNorris dilemma…

But if she didn't get it done she'd be forced to do it later, and she knew from past experience that the longer you ignored something that would hurt the worse it became once it was unleashed.

"Fuck…" She said in frustration and pressed play, backing up to the bed and sitting down, not trusting her own legs for fear they would give out once she saw him.

The exact moment he stepped onto the screen she felt her stomach drop and knew this wasn't going to be pretty.

And she was right.

For the following hour she was struggling to see the screen through uncontrollable tears…

_Tears for the loss of his life and what could have been…_

_Tears that here she was, all over again, letting a man get close to her heart – a position from which he would easily be able to crush her with anything from infidelity to harsh words…_

_Tears that she'd felt that way about leaving Esteridge behind as well, and how that had turned out…_

She fell asleep at some point, wondering idly through her muffled sobs if a visit to a shrink was so totally out of the question after all.


End file.
